Ice and Lion
by Candied sweets xD
Summary: Hitsugaya and Matsumoto are sent on a mission to investigate some 'strange' human activity in Hogwarts. Forced to masquerade as a second year and a teacher, they meet Harry and his gang together, try to get behind the muggle attacking monster.
1. Prologue

**This is my first fan-fic, so please be easy on me. Yes, I replaced Lockhart with Matsumoto, he isn't really **_**that **_**important... but I'll try to get Matsumoto to fill his space as well as I can. (Anyway, he seemed to be the only one I could replace, everyone else is far too important). Please review and if anyone spots any spelling errors, typos, grammatical errors and bla bla bla please tell me. :]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter (sadly)**

The barn owl had flown in through the open door, clutching two envelopes in its beak, one from the Captain Commander and one from a Professor McGonagall. The owl had attached itself firmly to Hitsugaya's desk, digging into the wood with its sharp talons. A vein immediately started pulsing in his head and he attempted to shoo the bird away, resulting in a rather painful peck in the back of his hand.

Annoyed, Hitsugaya grabbed the envelopes from the animal's beak, wondering why on earth the Captain Commander would give him an order in an envelope, why he had sent it in the beak of this irritating bird that had just ruined his desk and whom the other envelope was from. He opened the letter from the Captain Commander first, eyeing the owl with such ferocity it squawked and dislodged itself from his desk, flapping its wings in a frantic attempt to get as far away as possible from the white haired captain.

_Hitsugaya-taicho, _the letter read, _we have received intelligence of some strange human activity in England, in a castle by the name of Hogwarts. From our information this castle is a school for magical children in the country…_

Hitsugaya stopped reading. Skipping back to the beginning of the letter, he read it again, and again, trying to see if there was some alternate meaning to it. When he didn't find anything he threw the letter down, deliberately covering the deep dents in his desk, and gave an exasperated sigh. Either the captain commander was cracking a rare joke, he had gone cuckoo in the head, or this was some trick by Matsumoto.

He took a deep breath, and shouted out the name which he had shouted out so many times before:

'MATSUMOTO!'

The strawberry blond vice captain looked up at the sound of her name, wondering what she had done wrong this time. She gave a long sigh and reluctantly abandoned the sake bottles she had recently emptied and hurried to her captain. He was standing behind his desk with his arms crossed, a piece of paper clutched in his hand. Matsumoto smiled and, pointing to the front of his desk, asked,

'Taicho, what happened to your desk? It looks like you've been drilling holes in it; is there something wrong?'

He brandished the piece of paper in her face, and shouted,

'Matsumoto, what is the meaning of this? Is this supposed to be a joke for me to laugh at or are you _trying _to get yourself demoted?'

Matsumoto gave him a confused look, and tilted her head slightly so she could read it.

'Taicho, this is from the captain commander! Look, you can see he signed it here.'

The snowy haired captain flipped the paper over, fixing his green eyes on the signature at the bottom, along with the captain commander's stamp of approval. While the signature was relatively easy to forge, the stamp was almost impossible to get. But this _was _Matsumoto. She was capable of almost anything.

'So, Matsumoto,' he said, 'are you trying to get me to believe that these 'witches' and 'wizards' exist?'

'Taichoo,' Matsumoto complained, 'I already told you I didn't do this!'

Hitsugaya threw himself onto the sofa and reread the order, trying to ignore the fact that these 'wizards' weren't supposed to exist. Matsumoto read it over his shoulder.

Apparently, their mission was to masquerade as a student and teacher, Hitsugaya the student and Matsumoto the teacher. They had to investigate these magical people, and see if they were a threat to Soul Society.

'A whole year?' Matsumoto exclaimed, clutching the sofa. 'We have to go for a whole year?'

Hitsugaya continued reading. He was to pretend to be a twelve-year-old child (his fists clenched at the thought- having to pretend to be a little child when he was not) and Matsumoto was supposed to be teaching a subject called 'Defense Against the Dark Arts'. Hitsugaya noticed a long list of books for her to read up on the subject. Matsumoto blanched at the prospect of having to read so many books, and gripped the sofa even tighter, poking a hole in it.

Finally, at the bottom of the page was Hitsugaya's excuse for missing out an entire year. Throwing the paper at Matsumoto, who was on the verge of tears, he got up and grabbed the other envelope, opening it to reveal yellowing parchment that stank slightly.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore _(Hitsugaya couldn't help but snigger slightly at the name)  
_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Hitsugaya,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Hitsugaya's eyelid twitched at the names, then raised his eyebrow at the part about the owl. Really, why owls? They left their droppings and feathers everywhere and pecked you with their beaks (yes, his hand was still red). Sighing, he pulled out the second piece of parchment, scanning through the equipment he needed.

_1 wand_

He felt a slight throbbing in his head, since these were magical people they would be using magic, and seeing as he was supposed to be pretending to be one he had to do the same. Hopefully these _wands _didn't have souls of their own, like the shinigami's zanpaktous, or... Hyorinamru would have to share his mind with another.

He dismissed the thought; it would only be for one year, after this mission he could throw the wand (stick) away.

There was another letter inside for Matsumoto, which he left beside her. It was in the middle of August, which would mean they needed to leave pretty soon. Hitsugaya groaned, setting off to pack his things. This was going to be the longest year of his life.

**Yes, the owl somehow flew from the real world to Soul Society... I'm just assuming that it's been enchanted or something because I'm not really bothered to think up of a reason :D. Anyway, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon, my mind has run dry of bright ideas so... I dunno. Please review, it'd be much appreciated :]**

**Edited 3/09/10**

**FallenSnow12**


	2. Departure

**Okay, Just going to say whatever I forgot to write in the intro of the first chapter:**

**In case anybody is still unclear, this takes place during Chamber of Secrets. Unfortunately I have lost my copy of the book so if anything is inaccurate please tell me and I'll try to fix it :]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter**

Hitsugaya entered his new gigai provided by Mayuri-taicho. Shaking the arms and feet to make sure it connected properly, he approached the gate to meet Matsumoto.

"Come on, taicho, the gate's been here forever!" She was practically twirling on her toes in excitement.

"I don't see why you're so excited, Matsumoto. You were quite depressed when we received the mission."

"Well," she said, sticking her bottom lip out, "I really do not want to read all those books, but–" a smile broke out across her face, "Imagine, taicho! A world of magic! I wonder if they have spells that can make sake flow like water! Anyway, all I need to know are the basics, and I'll manage just fine!"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "You are supposed to be pretending to be a teacher. It would be quite troublesome if you got fired for your lack of knowledge in the subject."

Matsumoto ignored him and pranced towards the open gates. "Let's go, taicho, we're burning daylight!"

Hitsugaya sighed before picking up his trunk and following her through the gate...

The next thing he saw was a crowded street in the middle of London, with people left and right all rushing to get to wherever they were going. Casting an eye over the shops that dotted the sidewalks, he spotted their destination: a grubby little pub tucked away between a bookshop and records store. A squeaky sign hung above it, reading 'The Leaky Cauldron.' Doing their best to weave through all the swarms of people, they reached the door and Matsumoto pushed it open tentatively.

Hitsugaya had read in their order that this Leaky Cauldron place was apparently a very famous place, accommodating many wizards and witches over the years. His first impression of it was that it stank of beer and that they needed to replace the lights. The man behind the bar spotted them (well, actually he spotted Matsumoto, Hitsugaya was simply not tall enough to be visible behind the rows of glasses) and asked, "May I help you?"

Matsumoto turned, facing the barman. "Yeah. We'd like two rooms please."

He grinned, revealing a couple of rotten teeth. "Right this way. I'm Tom by the way. Nice to meet you."

Matsumoto flashed a smile back in response. As Tom reached the stairs, he noticed Hitsugaya. (apparently having not noticed when Matsumoto said 'we')

"Well hello, little boy," he said, then turned to Matsumoto and asked, "He with you?"

A vein pulsed in Hitsugaya's forehead at being called a 'little boy'. Matsumoto clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Y-yeah." she choked, trying to stifle a chortle. Hitsugaya's fist was clenched, and Tom backed away a few steps in fear.

"There is nothing wrong with my height!" he growled, his teal eyes flaring. The temperature dropped abruptly and their breath came out in white swirls. Tom whimpered slightly.

"S-sure, sure, whatever you say... geez..." he spun around quickly and made his way up the stairs as quick as he could, trying to make as much distance between him and the silver haired shinigami. Matsumoto hurried after him, then turned and said,

"Taicho, you didn't have to be so mean!"

Hitsugaya ignored her comment and followed the terrified barman up to the rooms.

The two rooms were opposite from each other. Tom hurriedly dropped the keys in Matsumoto's hand before bounding back down to the bar. Throwing one over to Hitsugaya, they unlocked the doors and entered the dusty rooms. Hitsugaya dropped his trunk on the floor, which made a dull thump, before heaving a huge sigh and dropping on to the rickety bed, feeling exhausted. He hadn't even bothered to remove his shoes, and had fallen into a deep sleep…

~xXx~

He awoke to Matsumoto shaking him. Squinting, he asked, "What?"

"Taicho, I want to go explore!"

He sighed, still feeling very drowsy. However, he got up anyway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning. Matsumoto practically whisked him off his feet (not a very hard thing to do) and charged downstairs, displaying extreme childish excitement. Dropping Hitsugaya on the dusty floor next to a chair that floated away in fear, she ran up to Tom and asked: "Excuse me, could you tell us where Diagon Alley is?"

Tom waved at a door at the end of the bar. "Out that door." he said, then added, "You'll need to tap your wand on the bricks..." Pulling out his wand, he approached the door and opened it. Hitsugaya got up from the floor, dusting his jeans in annoyance. They followed the barkeeper through the wooden door, only to come face to face with... a brick wall.

Hitsugaya scowled. "What is this?"

The aging man didn't answer, only tapped what seemed to be random bricks with his wand. To both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto's astonishment (Matsumoto gasped in surprise while Hitsugaya did nothing to show his amazement, nevertheless he was still stunned), the bricks slid away to reveal a bustling alley full of witches and wizards cloaked in colorful robes and the strangest pointed hats.

Tom bowed and left the room (or alley), sidestepping to avoid the short, indifferent boy. Matsumoto squealed and pulled Hitsugaya through the street, receiving many stares from the cloaked magicians. He yelled at Matsumoto to stop, which she did, although he could tell she was pretty reluctant about it.

"Now, we cannot waste time allowing you to indulge in your immature pleasures. We only have a week until the first of September, in which time I must have all the equipment I need for our mission and you must at least know enough of this subject you are supposed to be teaching so that you can impersonate a teacher without drawing too much suspicion."

"Aww... but taicho... one week is _forever!_ Your shopping can't take more than a day, and that leaves me six days to explore! Just cut me some slack, can't you?"

"Remember that you have to know how to preform the magic as well, not just the theory. You can't have started practicing the magic already, because you don't have a wand yet! Actually doing the thing is much harder than just learning the incantations or whatever these people use."

"It can't be much different from Kidou," Matsumoto pouted.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "You won't know until you actually try it. Now stop acting so foolish and _behave_!"

Hitsugaya eyed his list of equipment. The first items were robes, and a pointed hat (Hitsugaya snorted at the absurdity of hats with pointy ends. Who on earth would want to wear something so ridiculous?). Another paper was attached, from the captain commander. On it was a list of shops that sold the things he needed. It said that he'd have to go to a certain Madam Malkin's. Pocketing the sheets of paper, he stood on his toes, looking for a shop by that name. When he couldn't find one he was forced to resort to asking someone. He decided to let Matsumoto do that job, as he knew from past experience that people usually ran away before he had even opened his mouth. She was still sulking, but he reminded her that the quicker they got this over with the quicker she could get to explore. So she skipped off, stopping an elderly wizard and asking him for directions. He pointed her in the right way and she thanked him before returning to her teenage captain (or at least, he looked like a teen) and they set off.

The shop was pretty crowded with students and their parents. A few were sitting on stools with measuring tapes floating in mid air and measuring their arms, and the rest were sitting in the waiting area, the younger ones brimming with excitement and the older ones looking more nonchalant. The room was stuffy and hot, although cooler than it had been outdoors. The temperature dropped several degrees anyway, for Hitsugaya was starting to get sick of the endless summer hear. A flushed lady who was probably Madam Malkin appeared from behind one of the rows of shelves, spotting the newcomers.

"Well, hello!" she said, her smile a bit warier than it would normally have been. "Hogwarts, are you?"

Hitsugaya nodded. Matsumoto piped in,

"I'll be purchasing some robes as well, since mine have..." she groped for an explanation, "gone out of fashion."

The frizzy haired witch sighed. "Ah yes, fashion is a hard thing to keep up with these days, eh?" Matsumoto nodded absentmindedly. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes; he doubted the blond vice-captain would ever be out of fashion. She practically _made _fashion. He sat on one of the creaky chairs and crossed in arms, huffing a sigh of exhaustion. The heat was absolutely unbearable, even with Hyorinmaru helping him. The families that had been sitting near him shuffled away a few inches, their fear reflecting in their eyes. A few left, muttering about coming back later. Madam Malkin seemed pretty annoyed when she noticed this, so she called for Hitsugaya to come up first, shoving a pile of robes in the arms of a bewildered eleven year old and pushing the white haired captain onto the stool.

"First year?" she asked as her hands moved quickly to measure him.

"No, this is my second year." Hitsugaya replied.

"Really? Haven't seen you around before."

"I- I didn't come here last year."

"Ah, I see." She turned and hurried to the shelves, muttering some numbers under her breath, "Well, I'd expect you would be the smallest in your class. It's been a while since I've sold these tiny sizes."

A vein pulsed near the back of his head. Madam Malkin returned with a pile of black robes and a small pointed hat. Hitsugaya used one hand to hold the robes and the other hand to grip the very top of the hat so that he wouldn't have to hold the whole ridiculous thing. After Matsumoto got her robes they paid the woman and left.

"I have to get my books next," he muttered, scanning through the yellowed parchment. He turned to Matsumoto.

"Do you have enough information from the books you were given or do you need more?"

Matsumoto hesitated. "Oh... well... um..."

Hitsugaya rubbed his temples. "You didn't read them?"

"Well, there were too many words and I didn't want to have to waste my time on all of them!" Matsumoto whined.

"You're going to blow our cover anytime soon, Matsumoto, you know that?" Hitsugaya growled. Matsumoto tried to smile, it came out as more of a grimace.

"I _never _blow our cover, captain. You can trust me!"

"Sure, like that's possible." he muttered under his breath, and they set off to find the bookshop

The store was called Flourish and Botts, and was located some twenty shops away from Madam Malkin's. They entered the shop, which was full of bickering students trying to get books that their parents seemed to disapprove of. Leaving Matsumoto to wander around, he found the cashier and asked,

"Um... where could I find the books for a second year student at Hogwarts?"

The balding man stood and pulled a bundle of books tied together with a single black string out from a pile of similar books.

"Here you go." he said, huffing from the weight. As Hitsugaya pulled the coins from his pouch, the man scrutinized his face.

"Funny."

Hitsugaya looked up. "What's funny?"

"Haven't seen you around before. You know, even though I'm getting old, I can remember every face of all those excited first years that swarm in here. But I don't think I've seen you before, and no offense, but with your hair and eyes, I think I'd remember."

Hitsugaya sighed quietly before repeating the same excuse he had used with Madam Malkin. The man still looked slightly suspicious but gave a satisfied grunt and took the money. Hitsugaya heaved the bundle of books of the counter and went to find Matsumoto, who was examining a book by some woman called Rita Skeeter. The title was: '101 Ways to Make Your Hair Look _Exactly _Like Mine.' On the cover was a picture of a hideous woman with even more unsightly blonde curls. Matsumoto looked up and said:

"Taicho, look! This woman has _everything _listed here, all those weird spells and hairdressers, gels, dyes, the works! And her hair, it's _adorable_!"

Hitsugaya snorted. "Matsumoto, if you try to mimic her hair I swear I will kick you out of the office so I wont have to look at you."

Matsumoto ignored him and continued to read the book. Hitsugaya sighed and decided to look around the large and crowded store, raising his eyebrow at some bizarre titles.

"Hey, freak!"

Hitsugaya turned and saw the smirking face of a pale, blond boy who looked about twelve. He was smirking and when Hitsugaya didn't respond he shouted it out again.

"What do you want, boy?"

The boy's smug smile widened. "Look who's talking. Look at you, you're so short, no, not just short, you're _tiny_! I mean, you're a total oddball, you are. Did you dye your hair? Wait, of course you did, nobody has hair like that! I mean, it's even whiter than ol' Dumbledore's, it is! Those are second year books, what are you doing, carrying them around for some Muggle sibling? Hah, another addition to those useless things. I mean, if it were up to _my father_, they would be kicked out by now, no, more than that, they'd be extinct! I mean, only _purebloods _like me should be allowed to perform magic. Those mudbloods are contaminating our art, they are." He continued to rant on and on about the subject while Hitsugaya ignored him -he had stopped listening when the boy had said 'look', and was so bored with this character that he hadn't even caught the part about being tiny. It was only until he prodded him with a stick, presumably his wand, that he turned to him and said: "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? You've been ignoring you, you have! You stupid Muggle, how dare you defy me?"

"I have no idea what a 'Muggle' is, and frankly, I don't care." Hitsugaya responded. "Incidentally, I am not _stupid_, nor do you have any authority over me."

The boy's face reddened in fury, and he opened his mouth to say something. However, he only got to something that sounded like 'stupid' (which really irritated Hitsugaya, having already stated that he was not), before a bushy haired girl appeared and grabbed the wand.

"Malfoy, _what _are you trying to do?" she demanded, her enormous buck teeth flashing, "Were you trying to stupefy this boy? What did he ever do to you? You're not allowed to use magic outside school, anyway, and it is completely unreasonable to attack a defenseless person, not to mention cowardly!" Hitsugaya hissed twice, the first at being called a boy, and the second at being called defenseless. But then again, the only reason he would need 'defense' was if the boy were trying to attack him, and while he was pretty confident that he could block the attack, it might have caught him by surprise, so he decided he would feel a little grateful for this girl.

"I don't see why I have to listen to _you, _Granger, you being a Mudblood and all. But then again, you could stay and listen to my lecture on people such as yourself. And I could throw around a few curses if you try objecting."

"Get a life, Malfoy," the girl snorted in disgust. Turning to Hitsugaya, she said, "Come on," and took his hand like he was a five-year-old and led him away from the blond boy. He shook his hand away from her grip, refusing to be treated like someone younger than what he really was. The girl didn't notice, or she ignored it, instead muttering under her breath,

"That was Malfoy. He's in Slytherin, and totally unpleasant. He's so concieted about being a _pureblood_, like _all _Slytherins are. _Honestly_!" Clearing her throat, she continued,

"Anyway, I'm Hermione Granger." She held out a hand and Hitsugaya shook it.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." he replied.

"Are you from overseas? Because your name..."

"Yeah… er… I'm from Japan…"

"Really?" Hermione asked, "So... you're a wizard?"

"Y-yeah."

Hermione nodded, her gaze drifting to the bundle of books that Hitsugaya was holding. "Those are second year books! Do you have a... brother or sister in Hogwarts?"

"No, these are mine."

"Really? I haven't seen you before..."

"My family had some... complications... so I missed out on the first year."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "But that means that you'll fall behind everyone else!"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "I should be able to manage."

"Well, hopefully you get into Gryffindor, then we'll be in the same class!' Hermionie grinned and Hitsugaya tried to return it with another grin, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"Y-yeah..."

"Mm... where are your parents, Toshiro? Are they here?"

Hitsugaya cringed. Really, he had only met this girl a few minutes ago and _already _she was on a first name basis. "Er... they're not here at the moment... they're... at the inn."

"Ah... so you're staying at the Leaky Cauldron."

Hitsugaya nodded. "So, is this your first time in Diagon Alley?"

Another nod. Hitsugaya decided that the conversation had gone pretty far already, and said, "Well, I must be going, you know, still have some supplies to get..."

Hermione was about to nod in agreement when a red-headed boy and a black haired boy with a peculiar scar on his forehead appeared. "Hermione, what _are _you doing? I just saw Malfoy fuming over there, going on about God knows what." The red head noticed Hitsugaya, who was about to leave, and choked, "W-who's _this?_"

Hermione glared at the boy. "_This_, is Toshiro Hitsugaya" Apparently she knew about the surname first thing that was used in Japan. "He's a new second year, with us!"

"_Him_?" the scarred boy gagged, "But he wasn't here last year, how could he possibly-"

"I had some complications." Hitsugaya interjected, annoyed at having to repeat himself.

"Complications? What, wrong hair color or something?" The red head was rather annoying

"Well, you're one to talk, aren't you?" he said, glaring at the boy's vivid red hair. He flushed, his ears becoming as crimson as his hair. The two stood glowering at each other for about half a minute, the red head towering over Hitsugaya, until Hermione and the scarred boy grabbed both of their shoulders and pushed them apart.

"_Anyway_," Hermione huffed, turning the red head to face Hitsugaya, "This is Ron Weasley and Harry... Potter, who are good friends of mine." She gestured first to the annoying red head, then to the black haired boy. The Weasley boy cringed when Hermione said the other boy's surname, and the three stared at him, as if waiting for him to gasp in surprise and run all over the place shrieking or something. Hitsugaya did none of those things, instead waited for one of them to say something again. When they were sure he wasn't going to say anything, their faces burst into surprise, for reasons unknown to Hitsugaya.

"Well, I'll be... leaving... now..." The trio were still staring at him, which unnerved him slightly. (To think that he had fought countless Hollows, witnessed the betrayal of Aizen and had pulled through after Hinamori was injured, only to be unnerved by this twelve-year-old trio.)

Grabbing Matsumoto, who shouted out in surprise, but was immediately silenced by Hitsugaya's foot on hers, they left the shop, leaving the bewildered pre-teens staring out at the door.

"That was rather... strange..."

Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I thought everyone knew who Harry was."

Hermione released her breath. "Well, I guess he's just... you know... not from around here."

"Yeah..."

When he was pretty sure he was out of the threesome's eyeshot, Hitsugaya stopped and grabbed his list of equipment. There were still telescopes and cauldrons and whatnot to be bought, as well as an optional pet and a wand. Matsumoto saw the options for pets, then squealed.

"Taicho, taicho, taicho! Can I get a cat? You know I've always wanted a cat, but you said that it messed up the office, but we're not going to be in the office for another year, so please, please, please can I get a cat?"

"Shh!" Hitsugaya growled, "You're supposed to be acting as a fully grown adult, Matsumoto-" he then muttered under his breath: "even if you're not," then continued: "_I_, on the other hand, am supposed to be acting as a child, no matter how much I hate it. Not only is it uncomely for a 'woman' to beg, but it can also draw lots of attention if you beg a '_child'_-" he spat the word out, as if it tasted disgusting on his tongue, "-for a _cat_ !" Sure enough, quite a few pedestrians had stopped and were staring at the blond woman beg a 'boy" for a pet. Matsumoto flushed slightly and muttered "Oops," before clearing her throat and saying:

"Well, shall we continue looking for your... equipment... then?"

Hitsugaya heaved a huge sigh and they proceeded to find the shop that sold the cauldrons. Hitsugaya emerged from the tiny shop a few minutes later, heaving a huge pewter cauldron behind him, which was already heavy enough by itself, but Matsumoto and the shopkeeper had insisted that he drop his books _and _his robes in as well. While Hitsugaya was strong, being a captain and all, the cauldron was nearly double his size, and that made it _much _harder than it already was.

Hitsugaya finally gave way to Matsumoto's endless pleading, figuring that since she was acting as a teacher the cat wouldn't be able to bother him without her blowing their cover. Besides, the only way for the cat to follow them into Soul Society after their mission was over was for the cat to die or something similar, and he knew Matsumoto couldn't bear killing her precious pet. Matsumoto spent _forever_ choosing whether she should get a cat that changed colors, a werecat, a cat that could sing 300 different songs, or a perfectly normal Siamese which bit Hitsugaya about twenty times. In the end, she chose what the shopkeeper called an Egyptian Mau, which cost them about half of their money. Gritting his teeth as he reluctantly paid up, they left the stinking shop, with Matsumoto cuddling the dappled feline and cooing to it about how _pretty_ her fur looked.

"Hm... what should I call you?" she asked the cat, holding it up and tilting her head slightly. The cat stared at her with its wet chocolate brown eyes.

"I know, what about Momo?" Hitsugaya jumped. Turning to Matsumoto, he yelled, "You're naming the cat after _Hinamori_?"

"Well..." Matsumoto pouted, "She does look a lot like Hinamori-san, doesn't she?"

"How does a _cat_-" He gestured angrily at the confused kitten, "-look like Hinamori?"

"Her eyes!" Matsumoto said cheerily. Hitsugaya cringed as the animal stared at him. He had to admit, her eyes _did _look pretty similar to Hinamori's.

"Whatever. It's your cat anyway." Matsumoto grinned and tossed _Momo_ up in the air. "See?" she said, "It was a good name after all!"

Hitsugaya sucked in a long breath to calm down. He did not wish to be reminded of his childhood friend who was currently lying unconsious on a bed in the fourth division. It would only distract him from his mission. He took out the wrinkled parchment again. He had everything, except for... a wand.

He sucked in another long breath. He did not wish to have to use a _stick_ as his only source of defense and attack. But he knew he would need one, after all, he didn't want to blow their cover and reveal their identities. From his research, a wand was similar to a shinigami's zanpaktou. Not having one would certainly arose suspicion, with him having to be a wizard and all. He also realized that Matsumoto would need a wand too, after all, she _was _supposed to be teaching magic. But how would they explain the absence of her wand? Hitsugaya could easily act as an eleven-year-old who had never seen a wand before (well, the latter part was correct, unless a wand just looked like an ordinary twig).

Hitsugaya started to pace. Were wands fragile? Could they break? From his research, a wand was no stronger than a piece of wood, and the only reasons there weren't broken wands lying all over the place was because wizards were very protective of their wands. So Matsumoto didn't have a wand because hers broke, but _why _did it break? Hitsugaya's gaze diverted to Momo. _The cat ate it? _Given Matsumoto's carelessness, it was probably highly possible. Failing to think of another reason, he decided to stick with that and told Matsumoto of his decision.

"I think you're going to have to act as if it was the worst thing that ever happened to you. Imagine that it was Haineko. You can break down in tears or whatever, just make it convincing." Matsumoto raised an eyebrow. "Taicho, do you really think I would let a cat eat Haineko?" (Haineko was also a cat, after all)

"Just pretend it did!" Hitsugaya said, his temper rising in the unbearable heat. She pouted but otherwise did not complain.

They reached Ollivander's. It was devoid of people, but filled from the floor to the ceiling with thin boxes stacked away on tall shelves.

"Hello?" Hitsugaya called. Matsumoto set Momo down.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

The cat hissed and snarled. An old man emerged from the tall piles, his large, gray eyes staring at the newcomers.

"W-we're here to buy a wand." Matsumoto stammered, obviously intimidated by this man.

"We?" the old man asked curiously, "Are you here for a wand too?"

Matsumoto gathered her senses and a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. Hitsugaya sighed, but then again, he had told her to go ahead with the theatrics. "I-it's all my fault, y-you see, I turned my back for one second, and-" she sniffed loudly and her tears poured out from her wide eyes. "-and my cat... she ate it!" She fell to the ground, soaking the ground with her fake tears. The end sounded pretty lame, but oh well, as long as the aging man was convinced.

"Yes, it is quite tragic, isn't it, to lose one's wand?" Matsumoto sniffed and nodded in agreement. "Well, no matter, I'll have you with a new wand soon." He was soon smothered in Matsumoto's grateful sobs, and it was another minute before Hitsugaya stepped on her foot and she fell quiet.

"Well, why don't we equip the boy first?" Matsumoto nodded. Hitsugaya clenched his fists again, he really _really _hated being called a 'boy'.

"Hold out your wand arm." Hitsugaya looked at him, confused, but stuck his right arm out, seeing as he was tape measure that was curled on the floor sprang to life, uncoiling itself and stretching across his arm, stopping each time for a few seconds to let Ollivander read the measurements. After half a minute Ollivander snapped his fingers and the tape measure fell back to the floor, flopping there lifelessly.

"Hm... let's see..." he scanned the thin boxes and picked one out. "Try this one. Eight inches. Oak and unicorn hair." Hitsugaya took the wand, feeling stupid as his hand closed around the thin twig.

"Well, wave it around." Hitsugaya twitched it slightly, and jumped as the boxes tumbled down and landed just behind the fragile looking man.

"No, that's not right." Ollivander said, snatching the wand back. He seemed totally undisturbed by the sudden mess that had appeared behind him. He picked another box out of the pile. "Twelve inches. Mahogany and pheonix feathers."

Hitsugaya repeated the process, this time bringing a chunk of the ceiling down. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll-"

"No worry boy, I can repair them. But we can guess that this isn't right either, eh?" He pulled another box out and displayed the wand. "Eleven inches. Maple and dragon heartstring." Hitsugaya twitched at the word dragon and tentatively took the wand. The temperature immediately dropped and Hyorinmaru's reiatsu flared out of control. Hitsugaya immediately dropped the wand, and then suddenly the temperature was back to normal and the reaitsu was restrained again. It was so fast that no one outside had even noticed the insane power that had radiated from within Hitsugaya just a moment ago. Not even the Hollows had noticed. Ollivander, however, was on the floor, panting and sweating despite the sudden cold.

"Well!" he gasped, regaining his composure and smiling grimly. "I'd say a wand has chosen you!" Hitsugaya nodded faintly, with no idea of what had just happened. Matsumoto was pale and was clutching Momo. "T-taicho..."

Hitsugaya made no sound. Ollivander chuckled faintly. "Well, it's your turn for a wand now, yes?"

Matsumoto jumped, apparently startled out of her dreamland. "Y-yes."

After Matsumoto had broken a couple of vases and sent a few boxes flying out the window, she finally settled on a wand made of ash and unicorn hair. They paid up and left the shop, anxious to get away.

"W-what just happened there, taicho?"

Hitsugaya stared ahead, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular. "I don't know."

**PHEW... that was **_**much **_**longer than the first chapter, probably because I stuck two chapters together... anyway, Hitsugaya's probably going to get to Hogwarts in the next chapter, and he's most likely going to be sorted into Gryffindor, but if anyone has any other ideas please submit it as a review. If there aren't any objections please review anyway :] As always, it would be very much appreciated. **

**Thank you everyone who reviewed my first chapter :)**

**FallenSnow12 (Candied Sweets xD)**

**Edited 3/09/10**


	3. Arrival

**And… here's the third chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'm actually trying to plan this story now :] (Thank you Ultramatt17 and RmfD for the advice). **

**Disclaimer (also applies to all the other chapters as well in case I forget to do it): I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach.**

The windows rattled and shook as a train passed by. The entire inn of The Leaky Cauldron quivered. Hitsugaya cracked open one eye, then the other, lying on his bed for nearly ten minutes before groaning and kicking his legs over the oversized bed (Well, at least it was oversized for him). He yawned loudly and headed downstairs for breakfast. The bar was pretty empty, considering it was still quite early. Tom spotted the white haired teen and back away, knowing that he would call for him when he was ready.

Hitsugaya yawned again, scratching his snowy hair sleepily. The only reason he was waking up this early was because he had to try to master as much magic as he could before tomorrow, when they were leaving for Hogwarts. Everything was pretty straightforward: Herbology and Potions were a piece of cake, History of Magic was actually rather interesting, Transifiguration and Charms were all under control, and unfortunately Matsumoto was right, but Defense Against the Dark Arts _was _very similar to Kidou (much to her delight, meaning she could spend more time on shopping and Momo and less on actually working). But he still wasn't good enough at it, apparently, and he didn't want to have to waste time having 'make-up lessons' or whatever they were called (make-up?) when he had a mission to complete. Knowing Matsumoto, she'd much rather empty all the supplies of booze and get drunk with a couple of male teachers than scurry around the school investigating and writing reports for the captain commander, which left him with practically the whole job.

He had a slice of burnt toast and some rather sour orange juice before retiring to his room. Matsumoto was still sleeping in the opposite room, her snores reverberating up and down the hallway, with occasional mews. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and entered the dusty room, dropping onto the bed and sighing loudly. It was rare for him to be this tired after a good nights sleep; his only explanation for it was that the continuous use of magic was eating away at his energy, but then that would mean all wizards and witches would be exhausted all the time. Maybe he just wasn't used to using it. He randomly opened one of the books that lay beside his bed, which happened to be a Transfiguration textbook. Apparently, he was supposed to know how to turn a piece of paper into a pigeon. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. What on earth was the _point _of making a paper pigeon? Anyway, there really was no need for a _spell, _origami already took care of the shape, and the wind could at least trick you into _believing _it could fly. Nevertheless, he tried the spell out and made an entire _flock _of paper pigeons, which dropped paper droppings all over his head. A vein popped in his neck and the pigeons were immediately covered in ice which, too heavy to fly, dropped to the ground. Hitsugaya shook his head to rid it of paper poo before throwing the book down to the floor in disgust and pulling another book out of his pile.

He spent the rest of the day reading about demonic bean sprouts, how to chop up a mandrake root properly so that any potion it was used in didn't start screaming, Saturn and its moons, Beedle the Bard, turning a goblet into a glass, and the 'Protego' spell. At around three in the afternoon, he slammed a rather thick book on vampires shut and left his room, knocking on the door opposite his.

The door flew open to reveal Matsumoto, who was clutching Momo in one hand and holding a shopping bag in the other.

"Taicho! Where were you? I didn't see you at lunch-"

"Have you packed everything?"

Matsumoto looked at him with a look of bewilderment on her face. "Pack?"

Hitsugaya slapped his forehead in frustration. "Yes! We're leaving for this Hogwarts place tomorrow!"

"Oh, right!" She dropped Momo on the floor and ran to her bed. Hitsugaya pushed open the door an inch. The floor was strewn with robes, dresses, glitter, and hairballs. Thirty or so paper bags lay beside the bed with more than half of them overflowing with whatever Matsumoto had bought. The books given to her by the captain commander on Defense Against the Dark Arts were still tied together with the same piece of string and were tucked away in the corner behind the screeching mirror.

"You spent the last five days... buying _all this?_"

Matsumoto opened her already full trunk and started stuffing it with the shopping bags. Obviously it didn't fit, but she did not abandon the effort, instead sat on it trying to flatten it.

"_How much money_ did you spend on this? What on _Earth _do you plan to _do _with them?" Hitsugaya yelled in disbelief. Then again, this was partly his fault. He hadn't kept an eye on Matsumoto, as he knew he should have, and so this happened. It was the result of _trusting _the woman. Somehow, he had let his guard down enough to commit that unspeakable sin.

"I'm sorry taicho!" Matsumoto wailed, "It's just, I saw them at the window, and you know... I had no control over my body... the next thing I knew I was standing outside with a million shopping bags in my hands!"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Well, you're just going to have to go back to the store to give them back, or-"

"I could send it over to the office!"

"You are _not_ filling the office with your ridiculous and useless shopping items!" Hitsugaya growled.

"Taicho!"

"I said _no!_"

Matsumoto whimpered. "Fine! I'll take them back... imagine what that shopkeeper would say..."

Hitsugaya left the room, heaving a huge sigh as he left. Seriously, the woman was just _screaming _for a demotion, wasn't she?

"Oof!" Matsumoto fell forward as a result of being repeatedly pushed across the platform by rushing humans. She rubbed her knees and complained: "That hurt!"

"You've suffered much worse, so deal with it." Hitsugaya muttered. Matsumoto opened her mouth to protest then thought better of it and closed it.

"Which platform are we supposed to be getting to?"

Hitsugaya dug out the tickets from his pockets. "It says here..." he paused, and reread the ticket again to see if he had read it wrong. "Platform nine and three quarters."

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow. "Since when did humans start using fractions when naming platforms?"

"I dunno." Hitsugaya looked up, his eye running down the line of platforms (figuratively, of course). "Anyhow, I don't see such a platform here."

"Maybe we got the wrong station?" Matsumoto inquired, reading the ticket.

"No, I'm pretty sure this is the King's Cross Station." He looked at the ticket thoughtfully. "Platform nine and three quarters is probably a magical platform, in case any ordinary human gets on the wrong train. But how do we get there..."

"Did the captain commander's note say anything?"

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Lets assume it's close to platform nine." He picked up his trunk and lugged it up to platform nine. Matsumoto picked up Momo, who was licking her foot and her trunk and followed him. The platform looked normal enough, bustling with businessmen in suits, families with mothers dragging the screaming children, teenagers on their way to school, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well this is great." Hitsugaya groaned. "What are we supposed to do, walk through a wall or something?"

"Taicho, look!" Matsumoto pointed at a family of vivid red heads heading towards them. Hitsugaya recognized one of the red heads as the Weasley boy that he had met at the bookstore. Next to him were the scarred, black haired boy and the bushy haired girl with the enormous buckteeth. As they watched, the boys and girls wheeled their carts towards the _wall_, and disappeared behind the red bricks.

They both blinked. "Taicho, you were right!" Hitsugaya stared in amazement.

Ron, or whatever his name was, and Harry Potter were still standing before the wall. Ron noticed Hitsugaya.

"Hey, it's the little freak!"

Another vein throbbed, this time in his neck. "I am not _little_, thank you very much."

Ron's eyes narrowed. Harry put a hand on his shoulder and muttered, "Hey, calm down." Ron's shoulders relaxed and his face returned to normal. "Well, why don't you go in first?"

Hitsugaya nodded and pulled his trunk to the wall. He took a deep breath and stepped through it, closing his eyes as the red bricks rushed up to meet him. The next moment he was staring at a crowded platform full of young witches and wizards kissing their families goodbye and boarding the scarlet steam train. Matsumoto came through after him and gasped in surprise. She gripped his arm and exclaimed, "Taicho, this is _so _cool!"

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya growled under his breath. The temperature dropped and Matsumoto let go of him.

"Stop acting as if you know me. From now on, I am a student and you are a teacher. If you show _any _signs of familiarity-"

"Our cover will be blown." Matsumoto finished for him. "Got it!"

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

The train was bustling with excited wizards and witches, and Hitsugaya was tripped and stepped on multiple times. He was unable to find an empty compartment, and to add to his suffering, the far-too-curious Granger girl spotted him and invited him to sit with her. He sat at next to the window, across from a rather plump and nervous looking boy.

"Toshiro, have you seen Harry and Ron?"

Hitsugaya recalled the two boys that had gone in through the wall after him. "Yeah... I came in before them."

"Really? I haven't seen them around... hm... Well, they'll show up later." Hitsugaya nodded absentmindedly.

Hermione gestured towards the other boy who had a thin layer of sweat covering his face. "Toshiro, this is Neville. Neville, Toshiro."

"H-hello." Neville stammered. Hitsugaya nodded at him.

"Toshiro's in our year, you know Neville. He missed last year but he's here now!" she smiled at him, displaying her enormous buckteeth.

"O-oh really? Well... n-nice to meet you..."

"You too." Hitsugaya grunted.

Hermione's head swiveled back and forth as she tried to make them talk a bit more. When they didn't she laughed awkwardly and said,

"Well, hope you have a... good year... this year."

"Yeah."

The next hour was spent in silence. Hitsugaya spent most of it staring out the window, and Hermione had tried multiple times to make conversation but had failed horribly each time. Neville was terrified to make eye-contact with the white haired 'boy', instead preferring to stare at his shoes and sweat all over his neck.

The silence was disturbed by the door sliding open. Matsumoto stood there, sweat lining her forehead. She looked rather desperate, for what, however, nobody knew. A look of panic crossed Hitsugaya's pale face and he shook his head frantically. Matsumoto gave him a look that said, "I've got it handled," Obviously he didn't trust her this time, given the disastrous results the last time he had done so.

"Well, hello... are you selling candies?" Hermione asked.

"No actually, I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Hermione reddened in embarrassment.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry... I-I d-didn't know t-that..."

"It's okay!" Matsumoto said cheerfully. "Er... I couldn't find an empty compartment, so can I sit with you guys?"

"Sure!" Hermione answered, her voice a few octaves too high. Apparently she was still mortified, as if Matsumoto would unleash some demon onto her. "Nice to meet you, Professor...?"

"Matsumoto." she answered. "Professor Matsumoto Rangiku."

"Oh, are you from Japan as well?" Neville asked.

Matsumoto's mouth opened to say yes, but at the last minute she caught Hitsugaya shaking his head frantically. When she shot him a confused look, he crossed him hands in front of his face.

"A-as well?"

"Toshiro's from Japan too!" Hermione answered.

"Really?" Matsumoto asked, her voice slightly shaky. It looked like she was fighting back a laugh, even more so when her lip quivered violently. Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, _Toshiro_!" Her eyes twinkled mischievously, and it took all of Hitsugaya's control to stop himself from yelling at her.

"N-nice to meet you, _Professor_."

The two stared at each other for about half a minute, with Hitsugaya shooting daggers at Matsumoto and Matsumoto smiling that annoying smile. Hermione and Neville stared at them in confusion, and it wasn't until the train jerked that they were brought back to their senses.

"Well!" Matsumoto said, clearing her throat. "Thanks for letting me sit with you!"

Hitsugaya leaned back in his seat and continued to stare out the window. Matsumoto grunted as she pulled her enormous trunk into the compartment, then bent down to pick up Momo.

"Oh my gosh, that cat is _so _cute!" Hermione squealed, jumping up and down in her seat. "Can I hold it? _Please_?"

"Sure." Matsumoto handed Momo over to Hermione, who purred and curled up in her lap. "Well, at least _someone_ finally agrees with me." Matsumoto said, shooting an annoyed look at Hitsugaya. He pretended not to notice.

Hermione was stroking Momo's speckled fur when she suddenly stopped and looked around. "Harry and Ron still aren't here. I wonder if anything happened to them." A hint of worry tinted her voice, and she stood up, completely unaware to Momo's screeches as she fell to the floor. "I wonder if something happened to them."

"Hey, aren't Harry and Ron the two boys that followed us through the wall... tai- I mean... Momo?" The feline stared up at her.

"You saw them come through the wall?"

Matsumoto thought. "Actually, I don't remember them coming through after us..."

Hermione drew a sharp breath. "What if... they never went through the gate?" She threw open the door and stormed outside, calling for the two boys that apparently were not on the train.

"Oh my gosh... I wonder what happened to them." Neville whispered, clutching his chair. "You know what, I'll go with Hermione." He stumbled twice over his own shoes, then fell out of the compartment and tried to catch up with Hermione.

"Taicho, want to go look for them too?"

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Either they're on the train or they're not. It's not something we have to worry our heads about."

Matsumoto sighed and picked up Momo. "Phew, it's _really _hard trying not to know you! I mean, it's hard enough to have to be careful with everything I do, and-"

"Well, you're just going to have to deal with it." Hitsugaya interjected. "Can't exactly erase these people's memories every time you screw up."

"I know, but..." she pouted and crossed her arms and legs.

"All you have to do is be careful, Matsumoto. Not really a hard thing to do, at least, not for _normal _people."

"Taicho, you're so mean!" Matsumoto complained. "Of course I can be careful!"

Hitsugaya snorted. "Sure."

_Harry's POV_

It had seemed like a good idea, eating caramels in the car and exchanging jokes. We'd be at Hogwarts at about the same time as the train, and no one would notice our absence.

Obviously we were wrong.

The caramel, although delicious, was now sticking to my throat, and we had run out of water so I had nothing to wash it down with. I was thirsty, my throat was parched, my voice raspy. The car was so cramped I couldn't twitch a toe, and I was sweating bucketfuls. The jumper Mrs. Weasley had knitted for me was sticking to the chair, and the ceiling of the car was so low I couldn't take it off. The compass was malfunctioning, spinning in all directions and emitting some weird noise similar to a cat clawing at a wall. Ron seemed tired of driving, and he didn't talk so much now as he did before. Hell, even the car seemed tired. If I didn't know better, I'd say the car was wheezing. Maybe it was. It _was _a magical car after all.

"Shh... it's okay." Ron muttered. He turned to me. "It's just that this car hasn't gone this far before. But it'll hold." He tried to smile to reassure me, but it came out as a frown.

"I wonder how far we are form the train." I muttered, scratching an itchy spot on my arm. My elbow hit the window and I rubbed it painfully.

"Wait a second." Ron stared at me. "I hear it! We must be right behind it!"

And just at that moment, the train came from right behind _us_. We screamed, and Ron swerved off the tracks to avoid it. I was sweating even more, and my glasses were all wet from it.

"Well... at least we know we're on the right track."

I didn't even bother laughing at the pun, if it even was. "Yeah..."

I leaned out of the open window and looked at the scarlet train that was making its way around a bend in the track. I could see a few people I knew: Dean and Sean were eating Chocolate Frogs, Hermione and Neville whizzed past their compartment, and Malfoy smirked in the compartment behind. Then, behind Malfoy's compartment, I caught sight of a boy with pure white hair, not silver, but _white, _like freshly fallen snow. He was the boy he had seen at the bookshop, right? What was his name... Hitsugaya? Hitsugaya Toshiro- yes, that was it. He looked even more unsettling than the other day, when I had more to worry about than a boy with weirdly colored hair.

The boy looked up, as if he had sensed someone looking at him. Instinctively, I ducked out of view, somehow, and waited a few seconds before sitting upright again. The boy was still looking, but he didn't seem to have spotted us. A blond woman shifted over to the other window seat and looked up, then said something to him that I couldn't hear. I wondered who she was, but she was the least of my problems right now. I was completely focused on the strange and bizarre boy. As if he had sensed my ceaseless staring, he strained his neck a bit more, and his cold, teal eyes focused on mine. I stiffened. While I was confident that we were far too high to be seen from the train, I still felt a sense of unease creep over me. Hell, screw that, it wasn't just _unease_, it was _pure terror_, almost as bad as what I felt last year when I came face-to-face with Voldemort. I was frozen in place with fear, and my limbs wouldn't move. He was suddenly distracted by something behind him, and he turned, his back facing me. I was able to move again, but I could still feel them, those cold, cold eyes burning into my skull.

"Harry. Harry! Bloody hell, mate, you're as pale as a sheet!" Ron shook my shoulder, and I jerked as if I had just woken from a dream.

"It-it's nothing to worry about, you have to watch the road-er- clouds... Ron." My voice was shaky, which wasn't very reassuring, but I managed to squeeze out a smile anyway.

"A-all right." Ron said, but I sensed that he would bring the subject up again later. I decided to let it go, hopefully he'd forget about it.

The train jerked to a stop, sending the trunks tumbling forward. One landed on Matsumoto, who was sleeping. She jumped up in her seat and yelled out in pain.

"Ouch! Taicho, that hurt!" she rubbed her head and grimaced, before she noticed the temperature had dropped to the point where the windows froze over. Hermione, who was still breathless from her endless running up and down the train in search for Harry and Ron, stared at her and Neville looked rather perplexed. They both shivered, but had become accustomed to the strange weather, even though they could not explain it.

"I-I mean... Momo! Yeah, Momo, that hurt!" She pretended to scold the cat, who looked at her with an annoyed look on its face. Flushing in embarrassment, she looked up at the others. "Aheh?"

Hitsugaya sighed. At least these teenagers didn't understand Japanese, or they'd be rather baffled at why she had called someone in the compartment a 'captain'.

"We're here." Hermione said, peering out the window. "And Harry and Ron are still nowhere to be found."

"Don't worry Hermione" Neville said, "They can take care of themselves. They'll show up soon."

Hermione chewed on her lower lip, not looking very convinced. "I hope you're right Neville."

Hitsugaya stretched his legs, feeling rather wary about the stiffness of the uniform. It was so thick and rigid, and would certainly hinder his movements. He had tucked his wand in the uniform, and could feel it poking him in the chest. He squirmed uncomfortably- his shinigami uniform was so much more practical, not to mention comfortable, than these itchy robes. However, he tried not to complain too much about it, after all, he'd been through _much, much _worse than an irritating uniform.

They heard the doors of the train sliding open, then suddenly everybody was up and running out of the compartments and were squishing each other to get out of the train.

"Have these people _ever _heard of an 'orderly' exit?" Hitsugaya grumbled. They waited until the crowd thinned, then grabbed their trunks (and pet) and got off. They could see a huge castle in the distance, surrounded by trees. There was a lake a few meters ahead of them, and were sparkling with boats that were crossing it. Unsure where to go, they decided to follow the swarm of students who were heading toward a thick patch of trees. As they came closer, they noticed a line of carriages pulled by black, skeletal horses. They looked rather intimidating, and it seemed as if death emanated from them, however, the two shinigami were not too bothered, after all, _they _were dead themselves. But then again, these horses didn't seem like spirits: they didn't have chains hanging out of them, and they didn't seem to give off the same reiatsu.

"Toshiro!" Hitsugaya turned, and saw Hermione waving at him. He sighed; this girl was far too persistent.

"Matsumoto, you stay here." He dragged his trunk through the buzzing students and dropped it when he got to Hermione.

"Toshiro, I'd like you to meet Ron's family." Hermione gestured at a group of students with the same vivid red hair as the Weasley boy's. "This is Ginny." The only girl of the redheaded group waved shyly, then took a step back. Obviously, she was frightened. "These two are Fred and George." She pointed at the two twins that stood behind her. Hitsugaya couldn't help but dislike them for being taller than him. They grinned at the same time, then made a rather annoying comment on his hair before Hermione stepped on their foots. "Ron also has another brother Percy, but he's with his friends somewhere else." She turned to the red headed family. "Everyone, this is Toshiro. He's in my year this year, aren't you, Toshiro?"

"Hitsugaya." he snapped.

"You really are a freak, aren't you?" Fred (or George) asked. "I really didn't believe Ron when he said it, but _man_..."

"George!" Ginny protested. "That's really mean!"

"I'm Fred!" he said. "Really, you can't tell the difference between your own brothers?"

"Well you look exactly the same, so how am I supposed to know? Even mum can't tell!"

"Well then, she's a horrible mother." the other boy (presumably George) retorted. When Ginny gasped in shock he ruffled her bright red hair. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding."

"I wonder where Ron is." Ginny said after a while. "Did he miss the train, or..."

"Don't forget Harry as well." one of the twins interjected. Ginny flushed and turned her back to Hitsugaya and Hermione. Obviously she was trying to hide her embarrassment, but the back of her ears were still glowing red. Hermione giggled quietly but Hitsugaya paid no attention to the matter, it was probably another one of those useless human troubles.

One of the horses trotted over to them with a carriage tied to it. Hermione's face brightened up, but the strange thing was that she seemed to stare _past _the horse, as if it wasn't there. Hitsugaya's suspicions about it being a spirit rose, although, while this girl didn't give off much reiatsu, there was _something_ that radiated from her. Hitsugaya guessed it was something to do with magic, as the other people in the forest (apart from Matsumoto) seemed to give off the same strange _thing_.

"The carriage is pulling itself!" Hermione and Ginny exclaimed in surprise. "That's just _weird_!"

"Well, get in then." George (or Fred) sighed. "And yes, I was talking to you as well, Toe-sheer-road."

Hitsugaya hissed viciously. It was bad enough that they had to call him by his christened name, even worse that they had to kill that as well with their horrible pronunciation. The temperature dropped and everyone's breath came out as wisps of white steam.

"Get in quickly, Toshiro!" Hermione shivered. "It's cold!"

Hitsugaya took a deep breath to calm himself and entered the carriage. The temperature did not rise- Hitsugaya was pretty sure he'd lash out if it returned to normal. Really, he had to work on controlling himself when it came to people calling him the wrong name or commenting on his height.

The horse outside snorted and pulled the carriage towards the huge castle. Out of the corner of his eye, Hitsugaya spotted Matsumoto, who was shivering violently, although not as much as everyone, having gotten a little used to the temperature taking drops at times.

**Edit 03/09/10: This used to be part of the third chapter but due to length problems (it was 9000 words!) I separated them. Sorry if it caused any confusion…**

The carriage reached the castle. Fred and George pushed the others out of the way and stepped on Hitsugaya's foot. They jumped off and yelled out gleefully, before they were bombarded by water balloons that came from... the sky?

Hitsugaya twisted his neck slightly and saw a giggling ghost floating up in sky and throwing stuff at the approaching students. A couple of girl squealed as a load of green goo came their way, and ran away quickly before the goo hit them. Hitsugaya sighed. He'd have to perform konso on this spirit later.

'Well, come on.' Hermione grunted and jumped out of the carriage, ducking her head before rushing into the castle as to avoid the syrup that was aimed at her head. Ginny and Hitsugaya followed her, although something strange happened as the spirit aimed a rubber ball at Hitsugaya's white hair. He (or it) suddenly yelped out in fright and retreated into a nearby window. A few students who had just got off the carriage stared at Hitsugaya suspiciously, their eyes asking a question that clearly was not about to be answered.

Hitsugaya made his way to the huge doors of the... school (a big school, nevertheless). He was making his way up the stairs when a woman suddenly stopped him. She was probably in her late 40s or 50s, and her mouth was drawn in a tight line across her stern face.

'Are you Mr. Toshiro Hitsugaya?' she asked. Hitsugaya observed that she was wearing a ridiculously tall pointed hat.

'Yes... ma'am.'

The woman paused before relaxing slightly. 'I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts.' She held out a hand and Hitsugaya shook it. 'Welcome to Hogwarts.'

'Thank you.' She released his cold hand and continued,

'I understand that you are in second year, however, if I am correct, you did not attend last year.'

'That is correct.'

'Which means that you will have to be sorted with the rest of the first years. If you could please follow me, Mr. Hitsugaya.'

Hitsugaya followed her up another flight of stairs, through a large door, down a long corridor, around a corner, up another flight of stairs, and through another door. He tried very hard to remember the way, but after the 10th corner after the 17th corridor he lost the mental map that had been forming within his head. Finally, they climbed up the twenty-something-th flight of stairs and he joined a group of bustling first years. McGonagall took her place in front of them all and made an announcement and welcomed the wet first years. They were whispering between themselves, which annoyed Hitsugaya greatly, as he found it awfully hard to concentrate when talking over rude, buzzing people.

Then she opened the doors behind her, revealing a huge hall full of students, and a line of teachers at the front. Hitsugaya spotted Matsumoto, who was trying hard to figure out what to do with the many bit of cutlery set before her. When she noticed Hitsugaya she waved, before lowering her hand after it was practically burned away by Hitsugaya's furious stare. He heard some students gasp in surprise and followed their gazes up to the ceiling, if there was one. Because there were clouds that moved across the starry night sky, and the moon shone very faintly through a wisp of cloud. Apart from the sky, the sources of light in the hall were what seemed like hundreds of candles suspended in mid-air, their flames flickering slightly. Although it was rather warm in the hall, Hitsugaya had to admire these people's work. It was actually quite beautiful.

They walked up to the front, where a rather scruffy looking man laid a tall stool down and set an ancient looking hat on top of it (ancient by human standards, by shinigami standards Hitsugaya guessed it was about as old as the technology department- not very old at all, maybe about a hundred years old).

They stood there until the students calmed down, to the point where you could hear a tissue fall to the floor. A tense atmosphere descended upon them, and a few of the first years twitched. After a few seconds, a fold in the hat moved and opened up into what seemed like a mouth. There was a pause, then the hat suddenly burst into song. It was a horrible singer in Hitsugaya's opinion, but then again, he couldn't really blame it, after all, it _was _a hat. While Hitsugaya had never been one for listening to songs, he decided to try paying attention to the lyrics anyway; the song might be informative, after all. He caught some mention of a Gryffindor, which he had heard Hermione talk about, a Ravenclaw, a Hufflepuff, and something that sounded like Slytherin. It sang of unity between houses, the education of young children such as the ones that stood before it, peace within the magical world, blady blady bla. At the very end it sang: 'Now put me on so I can sort you into the house of your destiny'. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes as the song ended and the whole hall filled with applause. The house of your destiny? He caught Matsumoto mouthing 'lame' out of the corner of his eye.

McGonagall waited until the hall fell silent again, and unrolled a long sheet of parchment.

'Anasazi, Susan!'

A nervous girl with ginger locks approached the stool, and nearly tripped over her own feet as she tried to get on it. She pulled the hat over her head, and there was silence for a few seconds before the hat called out: 'Ravenclaw!'

The hall burst into applause and the girl hopped off and dropped the hat back on the stool, rushing towards the table under the purple and silver drapes. The same continued, then after a 'Hegang, Thomas' who was sorted into Hufflepuff, McGonagall called out: 'Hitsugaya, Toshiro!'

Hitsugaya walked calmly up to the stool. Whispers suddenly broke out across the hall. He heard some mention of his hair, his eyes, his name, his pale skin, and somewhere near the table under the green and silver drapes, his height. The temperature dropped slightly, although not too much as to freeze the candles, before Hitsugaya pulled the hat onto his head.

He was surrounded by darkness, and the noises of the hall were suddenly blocked off. He felt as if he were inside Tousen's Bankai, although he still had his sense of smell and his ability to sense reiatsu, even though the latter was not too important since everyone in the room didn't emit reiatsu. Then a voice echoed through his head, and he nearly jumped off the stool in surprise.

'You're a rather interesting one, aren't you?'

Hitsugaya realized that the voice came from the hat, somehow. Apparently it was speaking into his mind, and Hitsugaya felt somewhat vulnerable, at least his mind was. This hat was invading his head and it was a vital part of him. He hissed slightly, then projected a thought through his head.

'If you delve too far in...'

'Don't worry don't worry! Even if I do go overboard I will never tell anyone. It's against the rules, you know? Anyway... wow! Dead, are you? But you don't seem very ghostly, I _am _on your head after all. Hmm... this is quite strange. But then, it's none of my business whether you're alive or not, even though I must admit I am rather curious. No, I have to sort you into a house, don't I?

Hitsugaya stayed silent for a few more seconds as he reluctantly let the hat sort through his mind. Then the hat spoke again.

'You're quite a smart one, aren't you? Child prodigy, eh? But I sense loyalty, yes, especially towards... the thirteen? Your thought are quite hard to sift through, they are. But there's pride as well, and a hint of arrogance, I must say.'

Hitsugaya growled under his breath but the hat didn't seem to notice.

'But then, you have _great _power. Yes, and there is quite a lot of bravery stored away here, especially for that brown haired girl... Yes... Why, this is quite a hard decision to make, this is...'

Hitsugaya waited, his patience being zapped away by the second. Finally the hat shouted out, projecting its voice out of Hitsugaya's head and to the whole hall.

'GRYFFINDOR!'

There was no clapping, simply hushed whispers that weren't exactly very hushed. Ignoring the burning stares from the students of all four tables, he seated himself at the table underneath the red and gold drapes, as far away from the other students as possible. Hermione was beaming at him but she seemed to be the only one who was trying to communicate with him. Hitsugaya heard the students of Gryffindor (_my house_ he cringed reluctantly) muttering in disbelief and disapproval. The students of Slytherin were sneering, as if tempting him to unleash Hyorinmaru on them. The students of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff simply commented on his abnormal complexion and some shivered either because of the cold or of fear. Up front, the students were still being sorted, and it had reached a 'Racemic (pronounced ra-se-mik), Gordon' who was sorted into Ravenclaw, but no one was really paying attention to the rather jealous first years, focusing instead on the pale, white-haired 'teen' that was edging closer and closer to the edge of the bench as more students joined the table. Matsumoto was smiling at him, although it wasn't exactly a pleasant smile, more like a: 'Haha, you're in super discomfort and everyone is staring at you, haha' smile. He shot an extremely annoyed look, then stared forward at nothing in particular, not flinching the slightest as he sometimes caught a staring student's gaze. Their persistent stares didn't bother him the slightest; he had always been stared at for his hair and isolation from others, not to mention his love for ice and cold. He saw Hermione get up and walk over to him. She looked rather uncomfortable as the stares diverted to her direction, however, she tried not to let it get to her as she bent down and said,

'Hey. Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor! Now we're in the same house!'

Hitsugaya nodded unenthusiastically. Hermione then continued, her voice wavering slightly as she shifted in discomfort from the endless stares and whispers.

'Why don't you come and sit over there? Then we can talk about stuff with Neville and some of my other friends. It's an opportunity for you to make friends too!'

Hitsugaya got up reluctantly and followed her up to the middle of the table and seated himself in the space that Hermione had apparently saved for him.

'This is Dean and Seamus.' she said, pointing at the two boys that sat across from her. 'Guys, this is Toshiro. He's in the same year as us, you know, but he just didn't come last year.'

'Hitsugaya.' Hitsugaya corrected angrily, although he knew he was wasting his breath, everyone acted as if they had not heard him.

Their eyes widened, and he could sense a hint of anger in the Seamus boy's eyes, as if he was annoyed that the 'freak' was in his year as well. Then the Dean boy piped up,

'Hermione, what do you think happened to Harry and Ron? I mean, they just popped up, wearing Muggle clothes too! Then Snape took them off somewhere. People are saying that they crashed Ron's dad's flying car into the Weeping Willow!'

Hermione crossed her arms and declared rather crossly, 'Those two are just silly and immature. Honestly, they're going to get themselves killed sometime or another! And I'm not joking!' she fumed, as the two boys chuckled. 'I don't care whether Harry ran into You-Know-Who when he was a little boy, he shouldn't just recklessly throw himself into whatever situation presents itself without _thinking it through_! And he's rubbed off on Ron, I mean, when are those two going to _learn_ that you don't get famous just by _killing yourself_!'

'Hermione, it's not that bad.' Seamus reassured her. 'I mean, well, who knows what Snape will do, but it's not like they're dead or anything. It could be worse.' Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel a little curious, but he quickly dismissed it as a human worry, and that Hermione was simply overreacting.

McGonagall called out, 'Weasley, Ginny!' and Hermione squealed in excitement as she sat in tension, staring as Ginny placed the hat over her eyes. The hall fell silent slightly, although not too much. Then the hat shouted out, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Hermione clapped and cheered as the red head climbed off the stool and rushed towards them.

'Congratulations, Ginny!' Hermione shouted happily amidst the cheering from the table (apparently she had gotten their attention, maybe from her family name, considering her four other brothers were in the same house). The twins came over and patted her on the head. 'Hey, now the whole Weasley family's in Gryffindor! Quite impressive, eh?'

Ginny blushed happily and sat down next to Hermione. She was congratulated by a lot of the house, and a fourth year who was supposedly her brother recited a long speech that he had apparently kept in his head for three years. After being congratulated about a hundred times, she sat down, her face a happy pink. Then she did something rather unexpected.

'Hey Toshiro! We got into the same house, eh? Congratulations!' She was no longer stammering and the fear had completely disappeared from her face. Hitsugaya looked quite speechless.

'Y-yeah... thanks. You too.'

She beamed and started chatting with another first year that sat in front of her. The sorting ended with a 'Zinc, Adam' and the hall fell quiet. About three quarters of the stares had ceased, the students had found something more interesting to do than look at some strange boy.

The stool and hat were taken away, and McGonagall took her seat at the long table up front, next to an old man (of course, old by human standards) with a long, silver beard, although not as long as the captain commander's. He was wearing a dark purple tall and pointed hat with silver stars all over it, but by then Hitsugaya had stopped criticizing those strange hats, as all the wizards and witches wore them. In fact, Matsumoto was the only one _not _wearing a hat. He cringed, making a mental note to remind her to wear one.

The old man stood and walked to the front. The hall fell silent again, and there was a pause before he said,

'Welcome all, to a new year at Hogwarts! Now, I know everyone is quite famished, so I would just like to make one statement before everyone tucks in.' There was another small pause. 'Try the pumpkin pie. It's _delicious_.'

The students laughed, and Hitsugaya watched as the golden plates that were laid out before them filled themselves with food. The hall was filled with chatter as everyone scrambled to fill their own plates with food. Orange pumpkin juice emerged from the bottom of the goblets. Hitsugaya eyed the cutlery set before him: there were two forks, one spoon, and two knives- one for meat and one for butter. Picking up a fork and spoon, he took a bit of potato salad and started chewing on it.

The puddings finally disappeared, and were not replaced again by another course. Hitsugaya had eaten very little- while he needed food, he wasn't going to stuff himself until he had difficulty moving. After all, they were supposed to investigate strange human activity- and strange could mean anything at all. The old man, whom Hitsugaya learned was called Dumbledore stood and walked up to the front again. Silence descended upon the hall once more.

'Now, I would just like to say a few more words. First, I'd like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Rangiku Matsumoto!'

The students and teachers applauded as she stood. Hitsugaya could tell she was really trying very hard to resist the temptation of flicking her blonde hair at the 'audience'.

Dumbledore waited until the applause died down, then continued. 'First years also note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all students. Some of the older students might want to remember that too.' His eyes wandered to the direction of the twins, who smiled. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. 'Also, Mr. Filch would also like me to remind students that the use of magic between lessons in the corridors is prohibited. That is all. Goodnight, everyone!' He bowed slightly before exiting through the door on the left of the hall. He was then followed by McGonagall, who suddenly had a stern look on her face.

'Strange.' Hermione commented.

'Strange?' Hitsugaya asked.

She nodded. 'The Professor usually follows the students out the main doors behind us.' She motioned to the stream of students clamoring to get out. 'Also, Snape hasn't come back.'

'Probably still dealing with Harry and Ron.' Dean quipped. 'Must be bad if they had to call in the headmaster.'

Hermione's suspicion and worry disappeared and were replaced by fury and... envy?

'Well then, it's their fault. Really, they're going to get expelled at this rate.' She turned to Hitsugaya and grumbled, 'Come on, let's get to the common room before they start showering those two idiots with a welcome party.'

He reluctantly followed her out the doors, shooting a look that said, 'behave yourself' to a panicking Matsumoto before making his way up the stairs.

The first thing Hitsugaya thought as he stepped through the portrait that concealed the Gryffindor was: _It's burning! _Hermione seemed completely oblivious to the warmth, on the contrary, she seemed to look more comfortable in the stuffy and blazing common room.

'Toshiro, are you okay?' Ginny came out from behind them and scrutinized his face. 'You look rather green. Was it something you ate?'

Hitsugaya swallowed his discomfort and choked out, 'No, I'm fine.'

Ginny didn't look too reassured, but she nodded anyway and went to find some of her friends.

'Here they come.' Hermione whispered angrily as she eyed the Potter and Weasley boys, who were coming through the portrait hole.

'Harry! Ron! What happened, mate?' Seamus yelled as he spotted the bewildered pre-teens. 'How was Snape?'

'Harry! Did you really arrive in a flying car?'

'Blimey Ron, Dad will have your head for that car, you know!'

The two boys looked very pleased as they were surrounded by the crowd. Ron spotted Hermione and yelled out, 'Hermione, hey!'

Hermione grunted and turned her back to them, making her way up to the dormitories. Ron looked rather perplexed, and tried chasing her. However, he stopped in his tracks the moment he saw Hitsugaya.

'You! You got into Gryffindor?'

The common room fell silent as Hitsugaya regarded the rather flushed boy that stood before him. 'Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?'

Ron turned pink and growled under his breath, 'Couldn't have been sorted into Huffllepuff eh, had to be in our house... bloody hell...'

Hitsugaya pretended not to hear and asked the rest of the crowd, 'Please, can someone point me to the dormitories?'

One of the boys pointed at a flight of stairs next to the ones Hermione had climbed up. 'Y-you'll find your n-name written s-somewhere...'

Hitsugaya nodded and muttered his thanks, then made his way up them, trying his best to get away from the heat that came from, he found out, an inferno that crackled away in the fireplace.

The moment he was out of sight, the chatter started again, and this time some people were talking about him. He didn't care at the moment though, all he wanted was to get to a window.

He found a little plaque that had his name written on it next to a wooden door. He opened the door and staggered to the nearest window. Throwing it open, he took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling the cold night breeze blow into the room. He heaved a sigh of relief and stayed by the window for a bit longer before he went around the room and threw open all the other windows. He savored the cool autumn air that blew against his skin and swirled around the musty dormitory.

He stayed at the open window for a few minutes before taking a look around the room. There were six four poster beds and his was the one furthest from the door. It looked as if someone had shoved it in at the last minute, the space between it and the bed next to it was smaller than the space between the other beds. Of course, he didn't care. Feeling exhaustion take over him, he fell onto the bed, noting his trunk, which had been placed next to his bed, before falling asleep.

**Edit 3/09/10: This was originally cut in half then put back together again. I figured it'd be too troublesome anyway. **

**Thank you to all those who reviewed! **

**FallenSnow12 (Candied Sweets)**


	4. Constellations and Talking Portriats

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**Okay... here's the fourth chapter! Sorry again for the delay, I lost inspiration for a few days and didn't write anything for about a week(not a good sign, it probably means that giving up is close, but I hope for the sake of my readers that that will not come true) and I was kind of sick, so I spent a few days sleeping a lot.  
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**I'm kinda noticing a drop in the writing quality... maybe there's too much repetition or something... I dunno, I think I have to make my chapters shorter or I'll become susceptible to UTTER BOREDOM while writing and that's likely to affect the story... GRRR I hate that...**

**I switched to using " instead of ' for talking parts because it's kinda easier to write like that. So yeah… in case anyone's confused. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter**

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**_"Shiro-chan…"_

_"H-Hinamori?"_

_"I'm here, Shiro-chan"_

_"I-I can't see you!"_

_"Right HERE!" Hitsugaya gasped as a distorted figure of Hinamori appeared before him. There was a hole in her stomach, and the cloth around it was soaked in blood. Her eyes were lifeless; staring upward at the dark, empty skies. Her bun had come undone, and some of her hair had been chopped off crudely by an axe or barbaric knife. The rest of it was covered in sickening blood. More of the crimson liquid fell to the ground with a horrible 'drip, drip' as Hinamori stumbled towards him. She smiled, although it wasn't the smile that he had grown so used to, it wasn't Hinamori's kind, cheerful smile. It was a twisted smile, a smile of a predator who had trapped the prey and said mockingly, 'It's all right'_

_She placed a frozen hand on his cheek. "Hello, Shiro-chan."_

_"H-Hina…mori…"_

_He felt a searing pain in his stomach as the cold blade of Hinamori's zanpaktou cut through it. He choked, and blood poured out of his mouth and wound. He fell limply to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The pool grew bigger as he felt himself losing more blood…_

_He looked up. "W-why, H-Hinamori?"_

_She looked down at him, and he gasped in horror as he saw her face.  
It wasn't the face of the kind girl that he had grown up with. It wasn't the face of the girl who had worked so hard to become the vice-captain of the fifth division. Those eyes, they weren't those chocolate brown eyes that so easily filled with tears, useless tears…._

_It was the face of Aizen, the betrayer, the man who had caused so much pain, so much suffering…_

_Hinamori-Aizen raised the sword. It glinted in the light, and Hitsugaya could see the scarlet blood… his blood… that covered it and dripped onto him…._

_"Goodbye" the figure above him whispered. It was Hinamori's voice, strained, yes, but hers nevertheless. Hitsugaya choked._

_"N-no"_

_The blade fell._

Hitsugaya woke up with a start. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin as he panted. It was only a dream… Only a dream…

The sun had not yet come up, but a faint orange glow was starting to appear over the horizon. Someone had closed all the windows but it was still freezing, not that Hitsugaya minded. In fact, the temperature was probably his doing.

He tried to get back to sleep, but the image of Hinamori, deformed and suffering, was etched in his mind, like someone had taken a sizzling poker and had branded it there, making sure that each line dug right into his brain. He closed his eyes, but he could still see her, and he could hear her anguished scream that echoed around his brain. He heard it again and again and again, her tormented, traumatized voice…

His eyelids popped open and took a deep breath to calm down. Giving up trying to all asleep, he grunted and got off (jumped off) his bed. He got dressed and made his way downstairs to the common room. The heat still lingered in the room and the flames remained steady and unfaltering. There were no windows within his reach, and they probably couldn't even be opened. Heaving a huge sigh, he tried very hard to get as far away from the fire as possible. It was probably enchanted; Hitsugaya had never seen such a long-lasting and scorching fire. He decided that maybe he should return to the dormitories.

It was at that moment that he heard a familiar voice resounded across the room.

"Taicho! Taicho, are you there?"

He walked over to the portrait hole and looked outside. Matsumoto was standing there, looking rather desperate as she started shouting at the painting.

"I told you," came the painting's shrill voice, "I can't just let anybody in, even if they're teachers! You can only come in if you have a password!"

"Taicho!" Matsumoto pleaded. "Tell this crazy lady to let me in!"

"And another thing, don't start screaming at some imaginary 'ta-choke' and start ignoring me! Honestly!"

Hitsugaya cleared his throat. The lady in the painting started shouting again.

"What is it, you little pest? You should know that students aren't allowed around school when it's still dark out! You will not believe how many times I have been woken up from my beauty sleep by those three, who were they again, Potter and co.? I don't care who they are, they are a great nuisance, you know?" She continued ranting, her annoying voice ringing in his ears. He had also heard the part about being little, and while he knew it had nothing to do with his height, he was still annoyed. Obviously, it was one of the words that he seriously hated.

"Well you can still let me out, can't you?" he asked when she had finished her high-pitched blabbering.

"If I let you out I wont let you in unless you have the password. Which you don't!" she said smugly.

"Just let me out," he said, tired of arguing with this stubborn lady.

"Fine. Good riddance!" The portrait swung open and Hitsugaya stumbled out, ony to be drawn into a suffocating hug.

"M-Matsumoto, l-let go…"

She released him and started bouncing up and down on her heels.

"Taicho, I got really bored! I was just sitting in my office and I was chewing pencils, and fiddling with these unfashionable robes, and, and…"

"And you ran right across the castle just to find me?" Hitsugaya asked, a vein pulsing in his temple. "And then you decided to start screaming and risking our mission?"

She suddenly found her feet very interesting. "Sorry… but I was so bored…"

He rolled his eyes. "Just go back to sleep. There's probably only a few hours before the lessons start. I'm going back in."

"But Taicho…" she protested, "Where am I supposed to go for the… lessons?"

Another vein popped, this time at the back of his neck. "At your classroom! Where else do you think?"

"And do I go to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

"Yes!" he exploded, the temperature dropping. "Now go back before someone sees us!"

She whimpered and muttered a nearly inaudible "Hai," and scurried away. Heaving a huge sigh, he turned back to the painting, which now covered the entrance.

"Well, you brat, you're stuck out here now! You don't know the password!" She smiled gleefully, her yellowing teeth flashing.

"Camelopardalis" he muttered. For a brief moment, he remembered a night back in Rukongai...

_"Shiro-chan, look!"_

_"What is it?"_

_"There's a giraffe in the sky! Come, look!"_

_"Why would I want to?"_

_"Come on, Shiro-chan..."_

_"I told you to stop calling me that!"_

_Hinamori put her hands on her hips and pouted. Hitsugaya ignored her and spat out a watermelon seed, then continued to munch away at the cold fruit. A mischievous smile spread across Hinamori's face and she grabbed the watermelon, holding it high above her head._

_"Hey, give it back!" Hitsugaya ran forward and jumped, his arms flailing as he tried reaching for it. However, he tripped as he landed and fell onto the grass._

_"Do you see it now, Shiro-chan?"_

_Hitsugaya stared at the starry skies, squinting as he tried to make out shapes in them. "Of course I don't, this is a waste of-"_

_Hinamori dropped on the grass beside him, pointing up at the many white dots._

_"There, you see those eight stars? When you join them up, you can see the giraffe!"_

_Hitsugaya squinted again. He could see the stars, but..._

_"Oh... I see them..."_

_Hinamori grinned. It's beautiful, isn't it?"_

_"Yeah..."_

The portrait's mouth popped open in surprise, and she started protesting in her ear-splitting voice as she swung open to reveal the common room, "B-But how did you know? I didn't see any prefect talk to you, in fact, I didn't see anyone talk to you... how?"

Hitsugaya ignored her and stepped through, collapsing in the nearest chair and blocking out the portrait's sobs of despair and vows to get revenge. He tried ignoring his fatigue, the sun was rising and he wouldn't be able to get to sleep anyway.

"H-hello."

Hitsugaya jumped then took a deep breath to smother his annoyance at the lack of reiatsu these people were emitting, therefore making it extremely hard for him to sense them and easier for them to sneak up on him. He turned and came face-to-face with a nervous looking boy that he had seen at the sorting. His lip trembled as Hitsugaya released his breath, obviously the boy was uncomfortable and it was very likely that he was trying to make conversation against his own will.

"Hello."

The boy shifted his weight and muttered, "D-did you see who was outside shouting? It seemed as if she was pretty agitated."

Hitsugaya sucked in the warm air and cursed Matsumoto's carelessness. "No, I didn't."

The boy nodded absentmindedly. "I-I'm Colin Creevey... I-I saw you at the sorting... you're Toshiro Hitsugaya, right?"

Hitsugaya nodded. "N-nice to meet y-you." Colin stammered

"You too." Hitsugaya answered, not really paying attention.

"S-So, Toshiro, we're i-in the same class now..."

"Hitsugaya." he snapped impatiently. "And I'm in the second year."

"Oh, b-but... I saw you at the sorting..."

"I wasn't here last year."

"Oh..." Colin swallowed nervously. "I though Hitsugaya was your last name."

"It is."

"Ah... okay... it... it was nice meeting you... Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya nodded in response. "You too, Creevey."

"P-please, call me Colin."

When Hitsugaya didn't answer, he whimpered slightly and hurried up the stairs. Hitsugaya sighed and checked the large clock that hung above the fireplace. Four more hours. He could wait, couldn't he?

"Maybe."

---

Harry blinked as the the sunlight hit him full on the face. He yawned and got up sleepily, then almost immediately ducked under the covers from the cold.

"B-Bloody hell!" Ron complained, shivering violently. "I-I th-thought w-we closed the w-windows!"

Harry clutched the heavy blankets around him and bent down for his robes. Finding them, he dove under the covers again and changed as quickly as he could so he could get out of the freezing room.

Ron's teeth chattered as he followed suit and raced across the room, threw the door open and practically fell down the stairs in a bid to get away from the frosty dormitory. He was then closely followed by Harry, whose breath was coming out in icy white swirls.

Hermione was not to be seen, probably having left to eat breakfast. Ron and Harry sat by the fire for a few minutes to warm themselves before Ron said,

"What the hell was that? I was warmer when I had to stay outside in the snowy night for an hour than in that room!"

Harry shook his head. "I dunno... it could be one of Peeves' tricks..."

"The hell with that! There's no way Peeves could play a trick like that!"

"Maybe we didn't close the windows properly."

"Harry, it's September! September! Since when did it become the Arctic during a September night?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, anyhow, let's get to the Great Hall quickly before classes start."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, okay."

---

The Great Hall was buzzing when Harry and Ron got in. They tried looking for Hermione, but their vision was blocked by the sudden swarm of people that had appeared before them.

"Harry! Is it true that you came in a flying car?"

"Ron! How was Snape eh? How did you guys survive?"

"Harry! Did you really throw a cake in your uncle's boss' face?"

"Ron! Harry! Ron! Harry!"

Harry pushed aside the people, trying to get through. Ron looked pretty happy with the attention, grinning like some person who had never been bombarded with news reporters and was now.

"Come one Ron, let's find Hermione."

He was evidently very reluctant to leave his 'fans', but Harry pulled him over anyway and they sat themselves on the bench next to Hermione.

"Good morning." Harry said as he loaded eggs and bacon onto his plate.

Hermione didn't answer, instead, she turned to Ginny and started having a very animated conversation about Quidditch, which she had absolutely no idea about.

"Hey, Hermione, you're not still mad, are you?"

She ignored them and continued onto the subject of Seekers. Ginny was blushing, probably from being so close to Harry, but that didn't stop her from correcting Hermione when she claimed that all Seekers were 'buff'.

"See'sh shtill mad at ush?" Ron asked, his mouth overflowing with toast.

"Yeah, I think so." Harry groaned, stabbing his bacon with his fork.

"Bwell letsh jusht ignore her tsoo. I mean, we didn' do anyfing wron', she'sh pwobabwy jusht jealoush."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, after all, Hermione was their friend. He was cut short by Hermione's sudden greeting,

"Oh, hey, Toshiro!"

Harry's entire body went rigid as he felt the temperature drop. His head turned slightly and he saw the head of white hair and those cold, icy green eyes. He shivered as the frosty air penetrated his robes and hit his skin. He now had no doubt about who was responsible for the sudden winter in their dormitory.

"Good morning." Hitsugaya said, sitting down on the bench across from Harry. He took a piece of bacon and one boiled egg and started chewing them slowly. Had it not been for the cold, Harry would have started sweating in fear. He had felt scared before, of course, after all, he had fought Voldemort just last year. But this fear was different. It was as if he was rooted to the spot by some unknown force as Hitsugaya drained the energy from him. He felt so powerless, and that level of vulnerablity was what made this terror different from the fear he had felt when he had faced Voldemort.

"'Arry! 'Arry!" Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face, and he was able to shift his eyes from Hitsugaya to somewhere else.

"Y-yeah?"

"Bwimey, 'Arry, you look awfowwy peau!"

"W-what?"

Ron swallowed. "You look awfully pale!"

"D-do I?'

Ron nodded. "You okay? Maybe the car ride was a bit too long..."

"N-no, I'm fine... thanks Ron."

Ron looked at him anxiously. "All right..." He was obviously not convinced,but he could tell that Harry was in no mood to tell the truth.

"Oh, they're handing out the timetables!" Hermione looked hopefully up at Professor McGonagall, who was handing out sheets of paper at the front of the tables.

"Do you think that that 'Matsumoto' person is going to be up to the challenge?" Seamus asked.

"I hope so." Hitsugaya muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing." He hadn't eaten much, Harry observed, in fact, he hadn't even finished his piece of bacon. Maybe monsters like him didn't need food.

McGonagall reached them. "Here are your timetables, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Granger, Mr. Hitsugaya..."

Hermione looked at her timetable. "We have History of Magic next."

Ron stared blankly at his timetable. "History of Magic? That's so BORING!"

Hermione turned. "It's only boring because you never bother to listen, Ronald."

"What, are you talking to us now?"

Hermione's face turned red and she clenched her fists. "No. I was just pointing out a key fact." She pushed her empty plate away from her, slung her bad over her shoulder and marched out the door.

"Geez, she doesn't have to get mad all the time, we didn't do anything wrong!"

"She does have a point though." Harry said, finishing his pumpkin juice. "We did break many rules crashing into the Weeping Willow and letting ourselves be seen by Muggles."

"So she's Ms. Perfect now is she?"

"She believes she is, doesn't she?"

Ron snorted and finished his potato, then wiped his mouth with the tablecloth. "Well, let's go before Binns gives us a long lecture about wasting his time for being late."

"Yeah, okay."

---

Hitsugaya pushed open the door tentatively and peered inside. The room was empty except for a rat that scurried across the floor and disappeared into a small hole in the wall.

He sighed and wondered if he had the wrong room. Then he saw the words: 'History of Magic' scrawled on the blackboard and decided that he was in the right room. He dropped his books on the nearest desk around the middle of the classroom and sat down on the chair. He was probably too early, so he decided to take a look around.  
Apart from the blackboard, the teacher's desk and the students' desks, the room was pretty empty. There were a few books piled under the teacher's desk but from the dust that had gathered on it and a few cobwebs that had made their way around a few pages, Hitsugaya figured that they hadn't been opened in a long while. There was a spindly chair behind the desk, but like the books, it looked as if no one had sat in it in years.

"Does this teacher just stand all the time?" Hitsugaya mused, running a finger along the dusty table.

The door flew open and revealed a flustered Hermione.

"Toshiro!" she panted, beaming. "You're here early, you didn't get lost or anything did you?"

"Hitsugaya." he snapped, extremely frustrated and irritated.

"Why do you like being called by your last name?" Hermione inquired, tilting her head slightly.

Hitsugaya sighed. It seemed that all humans were far to narrow minded to see past the flesh. Even Kurosaki, who knew of Hitsugaya's position and authority, insisted on 'forgetting' his title and and adressing him inappropriately. He was about to explain how calling someone by their last name was sign of respect when the door opened to reveal a ghost.

"Professor Binns! Good morning!" Hermione said cheerily. The ghost who was apparently called Binns nodded in response.

Hitsugaya felt rather perplexed. This was definitely a spirit, but not a spirit he had ever seen. There was no chain or even a hexagonal metal piece on his chest, and he was completely transparent except for the faint lines that outlined his body. While most of the spirits Hitsugaya had their colors, this soul was all gray and white. Nevertheless, it was a spirit, and he had to send it to Soul Society so that it could rest in peace, away from Hollows.

Hermione seemed completely undisturbed by the presence of a ghost. Remembering the one he had seen at the entrance, Hitsugaya asked,

"How many spirits are there in this castle?"

Hermione looked at him. "Spirits? You mean ghosts? Don't you worry, they're nothing to be afraid of; they're completely harmless." The temperature dropped as Hitsugaya fumed silently.

"I'm not scared of them-"

"Anyway, I think there are around ten ghosts here..." Hermione interrupted. "But it's funny... I haven't seen too many of them, in fact, apart from Professor Binns, I didn't see any ghosts since last night..."

"Ten?" Even if these were earth bound spirits, souls in such large numbers would still be detected. And what Hermione had said about not seeing any of them...

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening again. The blond brat and two fat boys that rivaled Omaeda stood at the doorway.

"What's the little freak doing here? Granger, get him out please, I don't want his or your dirty 'Mudblood' hands on me, thank you very much."

"I'm in the right room." Hitsugaya said in a bored monotone. "I'm in the second year."

"Ha, sure you are," one of the fat boys laughed.

"Yeah, you weren't here last year."

"There were family problems." Hitsugaya retorted.

The blond boy chuckled. "Then good luck catching up, you dumb Mudblood, because you missed an entire year of your 'magical education'." He turned to Hermione. "Granger, make sure you keep your little muggle friend in line, and tell him that anything that he does to me will go directly to my father." He stretched out the 'a' in 'father', making him sound like a pompous jerk.

"Malfoy, do I look like I'm going to bow down and kiss your feet?"

"No, but rather you bow down and get someone else to kiss my feet, else they will get dirty."

"Why, you conceited, vain, narcissistic, self-obsessed brat!" Hermione shouted, clenching her fists. "You just _love _insulting just about _anybody _that wont give you a proper beating, don't you? You're a coward! You're not worth it!" She spun around and angrily pulled out a chair next to the nearest desk and dumped her bag and books on it.

Ron and Harry came in and saw Hermione fuming in her seat as she flipped open her books. A crowd had started to gather, staring at an equally furious Malfoy, who was shaking in anger.

"Well, at least I'm not a little thief who believes he can blend into everyone else!" He spat on the floor and dumped his bag in the chair furthest away from Hermione, muttering under his breath, "Wait till my father hears about this, that arrogant little girl..."

"Hermione's right, Malfoy!" Ron yelled across the room. "You're such a weakling that I feel sorry looking at you!"

"Thank you, Ron." Hermione said through her tears, which had sprung up as she buried her head in a book that was upside down.

"Don't mention it, eh?" he chuckled, patting her on her back. She smiled in response.

The three started talking about something else as Hitsugaya watched the rest of the students enter. Some were laughing at Malfoy's defeat, some muttering about 'Mudbloods'. People were also staring at Hitsugaya, wondering if he was in the wrong classroom or if it was really true that he was in their year.

"Settle down, settle down..." Binns said boredly after a while. "I'll take the role now..."

Hitsugaya kept his eyes on the ghost. He was reading off a few papers that had been stuck to the walls, not off a book in his hands. In fact, as he floated around, his foot got caught on the edge of the blackboard, but unlike all spirits that he had seen, the foot went right through it.

"Toshro Hatchoo-gee-yam." Binns said, stumbling ever so slightly.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." Hitsugaya corrected.

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Hit-shoe-go."

"Hitsugaya!"

"I said that."

---

The rest of the class passed without event, apart from a nearly inaudible snore that came from Dean. History of Magic was pretty boring, due to Professor Binns' continuous droning, but Hitsugaya had to pay attention. They were supposed to be investigating these wizards and witches, and learning about their history surely counted. He didn't find much of the information helpful though, all he learned was the medieval wizards liked being tickled by fire. Finally, the class ended and Binns said,

"Your homework is to write an essay on Muggle methods to catch wizards and how they have improved. Dismissed."

"It's finally lunch time." Ron muttered under his breath as they packed their books away. "One essay, that sucks! We'll have to copy off Hermione or something."

Hitsugaya finished packing up but didn't leave. Since it was lunch, nobody would be coming in, so Hitsugaya could perform the soul burial. True, these spirits had to be weirdest he had ever seen, but they were spirits nevertheless, and they had to be put to peace.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you."

Hitsugaya turned. Another ghost hovered behind him, wearing antediluvian European clothes with an enormous collar. His head looked rather wobbly, shaking slightly even when the ghost stayed perfectly still.

"Do what?"

"You're one of those 'shinigami', aren't you?"

Hitsugaya froze. "H-how do you know about..."

"I met one a couple hundred years back. He tried stabbing me with the end of his sword saying he was sending me to heaven." The ghost chuckled. "I don't need to be sent to heaven, and neither do these other ghosts. You see, we exist on Earth because we have clung onto life, and have refused to let go despite the great forces that try to get us up there... or down there..." Another chuckle. "Anyhow, you wont be able to jab me with a sword, because it'd just go through me! And that goes for all ghosts. Also, Binns is a teacher here, by sending him away you would give Dumbledore more work to do. Not to mention that people would start suspecting you."

"How did you know I was a shinigami?"

"You give off an aura similar to ghosts, and aura of death. However, I am quite baffled as to why you are completely opaque and can touch things."

"Then do you know that..."

"Yes, I know that Professor Matsumoto is also a shinigami. Are you working together?"

Hitsugaya looked at the grey spirit. "Why is it that we have never seen sould of your kind before?"

"Well, I'm assuming that you're here on a mission to find out who we wizards are. I have yet to meet a ghost that was a Muggle, so maybe that is why, because you people have never encountered us before."

Hitsugaya paused. "But you are still a soul. You will eventually get attacked by monsters called Hollows or..."

"Become one myself, yes, that's what that other shinigami said. But from what I've heard, souls become 'Hollows' after a few decades at the most. I have been dead for over 500 years now, and I don't look like a monster, do I?"

"It's rare for one to become a Hollow after so long, but there have been some cases..."

"Hey, my family and loved ones are long dead. I'm not about to let grief swallow me up when there's no grief!"

Hitsugaya sighed, then tried touching him. His hand passed through his arm, with a weird feeling as if someone had suddenly dumped cold water on him.

"Look, if you tell anyone about who we are..."

"Don't worry, I wont. Just as long as you don't come up and threaten me with a long sword. I'll tell the other ghosts to remember that as well." The ghost smiled. "Oh, by the way, I'm Sir Nicholas, ghost of Gryffindor. And you are?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." he replied.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Hitsugaya."

---

The rest of the day passed like any other day, without Matsumoto screaming in his ear. The ghosts had returned, floating around the tables and hallways. Matsumoto looked rather panicky, but Hitsugaya had a two second word with her when they passed each other in the corridor. He wasn't sure if she had understood it, but she calmed down during dinner, so he assumed she had.

Apart from History of Magic, he had had Transfiguration, Charms and Astronomy. Transfiguration was incredibly easy, but apparently turning paper in pigeons was too hard for everyone. Charms was taught by a tiny professor who stood no taller than Hitsugaya's elbow. Astronomy really brought back memories of his nights with Hinamori in Rukongai, and Hermione noted that he looked rather nostalgic. Finally, they retired to the common room.

Like before, Hitsugaya despised the heat of the common room and escaped quickly up the stairs and threw open the windows. He had started work on his report when Ron and Harry entered.

The temperature immediately dropped as Ron said, "Look, it's the little midget!"

Harry looked quite petrified. "You're... in this... dormitory?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Yes, of course, where else would I be?"

Harry swallowed. "Oh... well.. m-my mistake."

Hitsugaya scoffed and returned to his report. Ron came over and made a small noise. "You're doing homework? Already? What a workaholic." He eyed the Japanese characters and noticed that it was not a quill in Hitsugaya's hand, but a brush. "That's not English, is it?"

"I-I'm writing a letter to my parents." Hitsugaya lied, finishing the last character.

"What is it, Chinese?"

"Japanese."

"Ah... you're Japanese?"

Hitsugaya looked at him. "Just noticed?"

Ron flushed and bit his lower lip. "Well... you know... just because you have a weird name doesn't mean you're from Japan..."

Hitsugaya nodded with a very sarcastic look on his face. "Well then, I do apologize."

Ron fumed. "Why you little..."

It was now Hitsugaya's turn to flush. "I'm not little!"

Ron laughed. "Teeny, tiny, little, minute, short, small, minuscule, itty-bitty..."

Hitsugaya took a deep breath and tried very hard to ignore Ron, who had now burst into song, "Toshiro is a teeny, tiny, little, minute, short, small, minuscule, itty-bitty little boy... lalala..." The temperature dropped so much it started to frost on the windows

"Potter." Harry jumped and broke into sweat. "Y-yes?" he asked.

"Please, get your friend to shut up before he dies a horrible death."

"O-oh, yeah..." he turned slowly. "R-ron, I think that's e-enough..."

"Thank you." Hitsugaya said through gritted teeth. It was freezing now, but the temperature had stopped dropping. The two boys were shivering violently, but the strangest thing was that Hitsugaya didn't even seem to notice the cold. In fact, he looked much better now, less pale than downstairs in the warm, cozy common room.

"W-w-well..." Ron shivered, making his way to the door. "I-'m g-going to f-f-find H-er-mi-n-ny n-now." He disappeared through the door, closely followed by Harry, who was blue all over and was on the verge of losing his pinkie.

Hitsugaya said nothing, just stared at the two as they left. A thin sheet of ice covered the four walls and icy droplets hung onto the hairs of the carpet, but they slowly started to melt as the temperature returned to normal.

"Well then," Hitsugaya sighed, picking up a nearby textbook. "Guess I had better finish that essay for Binns."

* * *

***I don't know what the actual password is, seeing as my copy of the Chamber of Secrets has gone missing (sob sob) so I just made one up :P I also don't think there's a clock in the Gryffindor common room, but oh well... I think it should work despite the magic overload because Harry and Ron's watches worked... but maybe they were enchanted... I dunno**

**I know this chapter really sucked, I was trying to finish it quickly so I wouldn't pass the deadline too much, but then.. yeah... I'll try to make it better next time, although I'm afraid that all the signs are indicating that it's all downhill from here... However, I think I'm going to introduce Luna in the next chapter, so yeah, maybe I'll have some fun.**

**Please review, a lot of the ones that are already there were very helpful. Thank you to those who have already reviewed as well :D  
**

**FallenSnow12**

**ANNOUNCEMENT (:D)**

**I have yet _another _Chinese and Spanish test (these has to be the hundredth millionth ones this year) and they're one of those really big ones that determine my class next year so they're kinda important to me and so I am spending 24 hours (figuratively) studying, which means I have absolutely no time to write stories at the moment. Sorry guys :(  
**

* * *


	5. Contamination

**Hey guys, sorry I kept you all waiting for so long, as you may know I had a lot of tests squeezed into a single week (95% in my Maths test :]) and I also got really stuck for more than a month so I didn't write anything in that period of time and I was in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macau (whole China tour :D) for two weeks, but now that I don't have any school since it's the summer holidays (it started like, one week early due to a whole cluster of swine flu cases at our school) I have more time to write this.**

**July 1st: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day... yay... a lot of protesting... yippee (*weak and obviously fake smile*)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach

* * *

**Hitsugaya's eyes slowly opened as the sunlight shone through the billowing curtains and into the room. Grunting, he got up and looked around. Everyone else was still sleeping, still in their dreamy worlds. He could tell from the curtains that the windows he had opened last night still remained that way, probably because no one had seen them open behind the curtains. Yawning slightly, he stumbled over to the window and looked outside.

The sun was already climbing slowly up the blue, cloudless sky, lighting up the grounds. It was quiet apart from the even breathing of the other boys in the dormitory and the cheerful birds chirping. Green grass extended all the way to the forest that stood in the distance. Hitsugaya took a deep breath. It had been a while since he had been in such a peaceful place. Back in Soul Society, even at the crack of dawn there would still be frantic shinigami scurrying around, muttering about the work that still sat on their desks and their training, the Hollows, not to mention Matsumoto's constant sake parties and too-loud hangovers. It was so calm here before everyone woke up that his annoyance at having to waste an entire year here subsided.

Then he sensed Matsumoto's reiatsu get closer. He looked down and saw her waving. She wasn't in her gigai, probably because she didn't want to stay in her ridiculous robes. Still, even though most of the students and teachers here didn't have enough spiritual energy to see shinigami, he wasn't taking any chances. If anyone actually could see her, their identities would be exposed…

He jumped down and landed on the grass, cringing as the shock passed through his gigai. Normally he would land smoothly, but this gigai sure was cumbersome. Matsumoto hurried over, yelling, "Taicho!"

"Quiet!" Hitsugaya winced, straightening his back. "Do you want the whole castle to hear?"

Matsumoto pouted. "But everyone's sleeping! Have you seen these people, you blow a trumpet in their ear and they snore at you!"

"Have you really tried blowing a trumpet in someone's ear?"

Matsumoto hesitated. "Well..."

Hitsugaya sighed."What do you want, Matsumoto?"

She bit her lip. "I was lonely! I asked some random person if they wanted to play cards and they just looked at me as if I was insane! Then they bid me goodnight and disappeared! So I sat at my desk for the whole night wondering whether I should go to sleep or drink sake when I remembered that I didn't bring it! So I went down to the kitchens, but they didn't know what it was! And it was full of weird creatures with pointy ears and stuff!" She made a face and continued, complaining about the lack of sake, her phone not working, her clothes too stuffy, blah blah blah. Finally Hitsugaya interrupted.

"Did you discover anything... strange?"

Matsumoto had opened her mouth to go on about god-knows-what and now it was hanging open. "Oh yeah! I saw some _really _weird spirits today, but then you didn't tell me anything about them, taicho!"

He winced. "It seems that they are different from the spirits we are used to dealing with. One had told me yesterday that they cannot come in contact with solid beings, and I tried passing my hand through his arm and it went right through. He also said that he was over 500 years old, yet he still continues to regain his human shape and has never encountered a Hollow in his life. He also knew who we are."

Matsumoto gasped. "Wait, how did he know about that?"

"I think those 'ghosts' as they like to call themselves can sense reiatsu, or at least to some extent, however, there is a ghost teaching History of Magic and he didn't seem to notice."

"Then why haven't our sensors picked them up?"

Hitsugaya looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "I'm not sure... it might be due to their composition or maybe because they're different from the spirits we are accustomed to dealing with..."

"Then what do we do? If we cannot touch them we cannot send them to Soul Society, right?"

He sighed. "I don't know." There was a silence for a few minutes before Hitsugaya changed the subject.

"Did you have any lessons yesterday?"

"Nope. But I think I have a lesson today..." She thought for a bit. "Oh yes! I'm teaching the second years today!"

Hitsugaya cringed. "Second years?"

"Oh yeah, you're a second year, aren't you, taicho?"

"Yes." Hitsugaya groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Make sure you _behave yourself_;_ don't _do anything weird like look at me deperately and _don't _act as if you know me, at all! Got it?"

Matsumoto whined slightly. "I'll try..."

"Good. It's nearly time for breakfast, get going before someone sees us."

"Hai. See you later!" Matsumoto grinned and shunpoed away. Hitsugaya grunted and jumped up to the open window, where the boys were still sleeping. This gigai was really constricting him, but oh well, at least he was still able to move properly. He got dressed and headed down for breakfast.

---

Hermione was no longer fuming at Ron and Harry, in fact, she greeted them cheerfully when they came into the Great Hall yawning. Ron seemed rather surprised at her sudden change of mood but didn't complain. Harry was simply grateful that they could be friends again.

"Mm, these potatoes are really good!" Hermione said as she dug into breakfast. "Haven't tasted such good potatoes in a while."

"Been eating too much Muggle food, Granger?" Malfoy was striding towards their table, a smirk covering his face. Apparently yesterday's events had been forgotten. "Oh, I'm sorry, got that a bit wrong there, rather, enjoying too much wizard food? Well, don't get used to it, because soon you'll be heading back to your _Muggle parents _and your little _Muggle friends, _you Mudblood. I'd pack my bags if I were you, who knows when they'll finally do something right and kick you dirty scum out of here?"

"Malfoy." Harry rose and stood in front of Hermione, as if protecting her. "Can't you just shut up for once? You're such a pompous git, you are. Go pick on someone else for a change."

Malfoy smirked. "Well, what if I don't? What are you going to do about it, Potter?" He spat at him, smiling. "Anyway, you should get ready for the Quidditch practices, eh? You'll be in for a rather _pleasant _surprise, I should say."

"What're you talking about?"

"Oh, you'll see." He turned and headed back to his table, a rather loud snicker escaping his mouth.

"Ignoh 'im 'arry." Ron said. "'e's pwobabwy just jerkin' you awound."

"Yeah Harry, you know better than to listen to Malfoy." Hermione said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Come on, eat breakfast already."

Harry sat down reluctantly, sighing. "Well, hopefully he doesn't join the Quidditch team. He's not really that good at flying anyway."

Hermione eyed Malfoy's blond head over at the Slytherin table. "He really is very irritating; he keeps discriminating us Muggle-borns, in fact, the whole of Slytherin is just like him!"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with Muggle-borns!" Ron exclaimed. "Ignore him, Hermione. He's just too proud of being all _pure-blooded_ and whatever."

Hermione looked at him. "Nice to see you're swallowing before eating, Ronald."

Ron flushed and took a big bite out of his toast. "Dere, 'appy?"

Hermione gave a small snort of disgust but smiled anyway. "Oh, here comes Toshiro!"

Harry winced as he felt an icy cold blast hit him. Strangely enough, no one else seemed to notice the sudden temperature change.

'Good morning!" Hermione said cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"

"Y-yeah. Thank you."

"I heard some rattling this morning." Ron mumbled, "Did you have anything to do with it, because I was having the greatest dream when I was rudely pulled out of my sleep!"

Hitsugaya stopped in the middle of spreading jam on his toast. Had he seen...?

"No, I don't think so. I was asleep for the whole night."

Ron grumbled. "Well, I swear I heard something."

Hitsugaya shrugged and started eating the toast, silently letting out a sigh of relief. He was losing it, he was. If they continued at this rate they would be discovered before the end of the month. "Maybe it was your imagination."

"Are you all right Harry?" Hermione suddenly asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "You're very pale..."

"You were pale yesterday as well!" Ron said, looking concerned. "Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey."

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm fine... I just..." Clenching his fist, he forced a weak smile out. "Maybe it's something I ate." He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip.

"Harry, really, I think you should go see the nurse."

'No, Hermione, it's all right." He got up, shaking slightly. "Excuse me." He staggered out of the hall, a thin film of sweat covering his forehead and neck.

"Blimey, do you think it's really something he ate?" Ron asked, eying he plate, which was still full of eggs and potatoes. "You know what? I'm not hungry anymore."

"I'm really worried about him." Hermione muttered, looking at the doors out of which Harry had just gone. "What do you think, Toshiro?" There was no response. "Toshiro?"

---

Harry just made it to the bathrooms before he started vomiting in the sink.

"Are you all right Potter?"

Harry turned and saw Hitsugaya come through the door. "D-don't come any closer, you-" He was cut off by another vomiting fit, and when he was done his face was a rather ghastly shade of green.

"Look, I think you should see the patron." Hitsugaya said, looking at the boy. "She'll be able to help you." He took a tentative step closer.

"No, I'm f-fine..."

Hitsugaya looked closely at him. If a soul was suddenly exposed to large amounts of reiatsu they would feel weak and would suffer the same symtoms that Harry was suffering right now, but both his and Matsumoto's reiatsus (plural?) were in check and this boy didn't seem to be able to detect any reiatsu of any sort.

Then, without warning, Harry fainted.

"Potter!" Hitsugaya rushed forward and caught him before he fell on the floor. Despite him being much bigger and taller than Hitsugaya, he was able to drag him out of the bathroom and across the hall. There was the sound of pattering footsteps as Ron and Hermione rushed to him.

"Harry! What happened?" Hermione shouted, helping Hitsugaya support his weight.

"He was vomiting in the bathroom and suddenly he fainted." Hitsugaya grunted.

"What? He _suddenly _fainted?"

"I don't know why, but yes."

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed as they rushed to get Harry to Madam Pomfrey. "If he was vomiting then it must have been the food!"

The door burst open and both Hermione and Ron ran across the room to find the nurse. "Madam Pomfrey, Harry's fainted. Please, can you come look as him?"

A rather plump witch emerged from the room and gasped when she saw Harry's unconscious body on the floor. "Well then, chop chop, get him on a bed!"

The bed squeaked in protest as they heaved Harry onto it. Madam Pomfrey then came over and started examining him.

"Well?"

She looked up. "He's perfectly healthy, he hasn't got a temperature, doesn't seem to have a cold, nothing. I think he just didn't eat enough food, you know how food is important for growing kids. He just needs a few hours of sleep and he should be up on his feet."

"Toshiro said he was vomiting."

"Was he now? Well, that would explain why he didn't have enough food."

"But why was he vomiting?"

"Maybe there was something wrong with the food. There might be a contamination in the kitchens."

"But we feel fine!" Ron protested. "If it was in the food wouldn't we be affected too?"

"Well I don't know everything do I?" Madam Pomfrey said, annoyed. "Why don't you inform Dumbledore about this, say we might have some sort of germ in the food, or maybe the house elves are messing about. Now I think you should leave, he needs peace to sleep!"

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but he was silenced by Hermione. "Thank you very much, Madam Pomfrey. Hopefully Harry gets better soon."

Her fierce look disappeared and she smiled. "Yes, let's hope so."

"Come on Ron, we have to get to class. You too Toshiro."

Ron looked at his friend worriedly, but Hermione managed to reassure him. They left, Hitsugaya looking at the sleeping Harry apprehensively. _It's very unlikely _he told himself _Not only are our reiatsus controlled, they're also hidden behind our gigais. You're jumping to conclusions. _

The door closed and Hermione sighed. "Well, we'd better get to class or we'll be late."

---

The first class was Potions. Hitsugaya knew from the moment he stepped into the cold dungeons that he would like it there. Whoever taught in this place either, like him, liked the cold or just wasn't bothered to turn up the heat. Either way, Hitsugaya admired the man's choice. He was pretty sick of the constant heat from the common room.

The class turned out to be taught by a man with a hooked nose and greasy hair, apparently called Snape. It was pretty evident that Ron did not like the man, grumbling as he settled down into a chair.

It also seemed that Snape had a grudge against all the Gryffindors, especially Harry. When he found out he was not attending class he muttered something about laziness and something else. Despite all this, Hitsugaya quickly found out that he respected the man. While everyone else (at least, everyone in Gryffindor) hated him for his apparent 'mean-ness' Hitsugaya thought that his strict way of teaching did more good than someone who was too kind to notice someone's mistakes and give them a proper teaching. In fact, his way of dealing with his own division was quite similar. However, Snape did seem rather prejudiced towards Slytherin, his own house as Hitsugaya soon found out. Or maybe it was just that he didn't like the Gryffindors, after all, they could be quite annoying sometimes.

Hitsugaya was in the middle of adding his wormroot to his cauldron when Ron tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw that Ron was looking rather uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

Ron pursed his lips together and it looked like he wanted to say something but was having difficulties actually speaking the words.

"T-thanks for... helping Harry out... you know... when he fainted and all..." It looked like he had swallowed a slug that actually tasted good but the shock of actually swallowing something as disgustingly slimy as a slug somehow made the experience a whole big mess of surprise, horror, disgust at one's self and a maybe rather disturbing urge for more, and that all resulted in conflicting emotions that one could ponder on for a long time. It was a rather curious and amusing emotion, something that shinigami and humans alike experienced. Hitsugaya himself was rather surprised at the boy's sudden change of heart.

"It was but a reaction triggered by sympathy. Even if you saw the enemy suffering, it doesn't matter whether you help them or not, but you would still feel a twinge empathy and pity towards the one in question. A flaw, you may call it, of the human mind, however, it can come useful sometimes."

Ron looked at him, completely baffled. "How old are you?"

Hitsugaya turned away and continued to work on his potion. "That is none of your business."

Ron grunted, annoyed again, and followed suit, chopping up his oleander with the wrong end of the knife.

---

Harry came back in the middle of Charms, looking much better and a little less pale. Hermione looked rather worried that his face had not regained its full color but otherwise did not complain. The other students were muttering about why Potter was all sick and stuff but Hitsugaya had yet to find out what was so special about the scarred boy.

The Great Hall was as usual very noisy when Hitsugaya entered for break. He settled down on one of the benches and started getting some food. He was chewing a chicken when someone came up to him.

"The Wrandynuts are hovering over your head, but it's a good thing they're just babies, or even the tables and the floor would be white from your touch."

Hitsugaya turned. Standing behind him was a first year waist length dirty-blond hair and eyebrows placed higher up on her forehead than most people, making her look eternally astonished.

"Wrandynuts?"

"They're invisible creatures who attach themselves to people when they are born and take the color from them. They're actually pretty similar to Wrackspurts, but they lived in a darker area of the world, so naturally they wanted to draw color from others. See, your hair is already suffering from their effects."

Hitsugaya scowled. "This is my natural hair color."

"You think that because the Wrandynuts want you to."

Hitsugaya looked at the strange girl, wondering whether anything was affecting her brain. Right now she was leaning back on her heels, humming something almost inaudible.

"I'm Luna Lovegood." she said, holding her hand out. Hitsugaya shook it. "I'm in Ravenclaw. I saw you at the sorting. You're Toshiro Hitsugaya, right?"

"Yes."

"You're not in first year, are you?"

"No I'm not, I'm in the second year."

Luna smiled. "I thought so." She fingered a strange necklace that seemed to be made out of corks. "You should wear some sandralia roots. The Wrandynuts don't like sandralia because it smells of horse poo. It may take a while, but after they get away from you the color will return."

Hitsugaya sighed. "Well... thank you for... telling me..."

"If you want to know more about Wrandynuts you should read the Quibbler. My father edits it, and I'm sure you'll find it useful. Well, it was nice meeting you. See you later!" She waved then skipped away, her long hair swinging from side to side and occasionally hitting people full on in the face. She was definitely one of the strangest people Hitsugaya had ever met. However, she at least didn't freak out at his hair or eyes or skin or appearance or something. Or maybe she did. It was impossible to tell whether it was simply because of her eyebrows or if she was actually genuinely surprised. Perhaps she was simply slightly insane.

---

"Harry."

The scarred boy looked up from an essay for Transfiguration that he was finishing, along with Ron, before class started. Hermione was sitting on the chair across from him, looking quite worried.

"What?"

"May I have a word?"

Harry raised an eyebrow but rolled up his parchment nevertheless and walked over Hermione. "What is it?"

Hermione eyed Ron, who was oblivious to the recent exchange between his two friends, then whispered. "Am I right in thinking that you are afraid of Toshiro?"

Harry swallowed. "Of course I'm not. What's there to be afraid of?"

"You always go pale and faint* when he's around, and that's really unlike you. I also don't think you fainting is because you haven't eaten enough, is it?"

Harry bit his bottom lip, looking down to avoid Hermione's eye. "Hermione, don't you think there's something wrong with him, as if something isn't quite right about him? I mean, the way the air always gets colder around him, and that feeling of _death _and _suffering... _He claims that he's twelve, yet his hair is whiter than even Dumbledore's, he demands a level of respect that surpasses even that of Snape, and his eyes are just disturbing and almost _sinister_...."

Now it was Hermione's turn to bite her lip. "Well, I must agree that something is definitely strange about Toshiro, but I think he might just be different, and he's not from around here, so maybe..."

Harry sighed. "I need to finish my essay, or McGonagall will flip."

Hermione still looked apprehensive, but nodded and started packing her books and quills back into her bag.

"D-do you need help, Harry?" she asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject and escape the extremely awkward atmosphere.

"No, I'm fine." Harry answered, his quill hovering over the parchment, ready to start a new paragraph. He though better of it and just added his conclusion at the bottom of the last one and rolled it all up. "What do we have after break?"

"Oh, um..." Hermione dug frantically through her bag, blushing slightly, apparently regretting asking Harry about Hitsugaya. "Oh, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts next. I wonder what Professor Matsumoto will be like..."

---

Hitsugaya sighed as he started to head off to class. He had first wanted to go early so he could ask Matsumoto if she had everything planned and to tell her not to blow their cover, but decided that it'd be useless seeing as he already told her, and an extra time wouldn't make a difference to the rest of his warnings trying to penetrate the thick skull of hers that was simply concentrated on sake and guys. So, he had spent his free time during break researching Harry Potter in the library, trying to figure out what it was that made him so special, however, his efforts proved to be fruitless; all the books in the library were either written before his time or did not mention anything past the last century. It seemed he would have to inquire further, but he was rather reluctant to ask anybody- his first meeting with Hermione, Ron and Harry proved to be very infuriating due to them looking at him as if he was stupid for not knowing why Potter was such a famous person.

The castle was far too big to get used to in only a couple of days, but Hitsugaya managed to find his way through the long passages to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even before he opened the door he was starting to have second thoughts about agreeing to let Matsumoto accompany him here, cringing as he imagined all the possible scenarios in which his vice-captain could screw up. Of course, it was not his choice, the mission was set, after all, by the captain commander, and he was the only one who had a say in this. But still, why Matsumoto?

His mood was not improved when he was attacked by Momo the cat the moment he stepped through the doorway. Laughter broke out as he closed the door, picking up the annoying cat and almost throwing it to the other side of the classroom. It seemed he had arrived early, there were only about ten people in the classroom, Harry and his friends included. Matsumoto was not to be seen, although Hitsugaya detected her reiatsu coming faintly from the door that led to her office. Not waiting to be ushered over to sit next to Hermione, who seemed to treat him as if he was her new best friend (although after the strange Potter-fainting incident, she seemed to be a little more wary of him), he settled down in a seat near the back, so that hopefully Matsumoto wouldn't keep looking at him as if to ask him what to do next. Honestly, sometimes he suspected it had become a habit of hers.

A few minutes later, Matsumoto stepped through the door of the office, and it was evident from the amount of books she was carrying she had been doing some last minute revision. She stumbled slightly as she made her way down the stairs, and heaved a great sigh as she loaded them on the table in front of the class.

"Er... h-hello. I'm P-professor Matsumoto, and I'll be... er... teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts t-this year."

* * *

***faint as in the adjective meaning weak and dizzy, not faint as in the verb pass out**

**I am really stuck with Matsumoto so I deliberately ended the chapter there so I could get the readers ideas. I might rewrite this chapter if I feel like it seeing as this chapter seems rather useless, but then again, please, if you have any suggestions for what Matsumoto should teach the class, please tell me through a review or something. Thank you!  
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**I'm not too sure about the effects of being exposed to large amounts of reiatsu, but I'll just stick to the vomiting and fainting. I also might have overdone Hitsugaya's concern a bit, but oh well, not bothered to write it again. I absolutely hate philosophy which is why I was blabbering about nonsense at the sympathy part, but oh well...****I was about to skip Luna out when I remembered I was supposed to introduce her in this chapter so sorry if it seemed totally useless and random.**

**Thank you to all those who have reviewed, and please review this chapter, it will be much appreciated :D**

**FallenSnow12  
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	6. Rabid Rabbits

**So, here's the sixth chapter! Thank you so much for everyone's advice on what Matsumoto should teach, I've decided to use totalnarutofangirl85's suggestion for this lesson, it seems easier to write, but I'll try using everyone's advice for later lessons. And thank you to everyone who reminded me of the effects of being exposed to too much reiatsu, seems my memory is really starting to fail me **

**I'm in the middle of reading the Chinese version of Inkheart (very hard… the English one was boring enough) and my friend has borrowed my English copy and now she's not here so I can't get it back =.= I have also been forced to write a fanfic for somebody (well, not exactly the whole thing... although most of the first chapter was mine... it's called Shuriken's Blade... I think. Naruto and Bleach crossover) and unfortunately my heart is not really in it because I'm TRYING TO CONCENTRATE ON WRITING THIS ONE. Sigh...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach  
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"Er... h-hello. I'm P-professor Matsumoto, and I'll be... er... teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts t-this year."

Silence ensued, and a faint smell of wine or some other alcohol drifted into the air. Hitsugaya sighed. What strange concoction had she managed to whip up this time?

Obviously stuck for ideas, Matsumoto grabbed the role book nervously and declared that she would take the role. Having mispronounced many names (and deliberately messing up Hitsugaya's name with a rather mischievous chuckle, much to his annoyance) and eaten up more than a quarter of the lesson time, she finally closed the role book, clapped her hands together, and announced,

"So, today… I will be teaching you about… dodging spells." Her eyes slid to Hitsugaya's seat, her eyes half pleading him to help and half telling him that she had it all covered. Hopefully nobody else could read her expression, as confusing as it was, but Hitsugaya highly doubted it. She pushed a few tables aside (this caused an outbreak of muttering about why she was moving the tables by hand and not using magic to get it done), then stood up straight and said,

"I'm going to need a volunteer." Hermione's hand shot up in the air immediately, as if by reflex, although Matsumoto had looked automatically at Hitsugaya. Thinking better of it (something that happens quite rarely), she nodded at her and said, "Okay, Miss Granger, could you stand over there…" The tables were now in a position so that they made way for a straight line in the middle of the room. Hermione moved to the end of it, while Matsumoto stood at the other end. Everyone else moved back slightly.

"Okay, er… when I say go… please shoot a spell at me and I will show you how to.. make sure it doesn't… hit you."

At Matsumoto's indication, Hermione shouted the same thing the Malfoy boy was trying to shout at Hitsugaya at the bookstore when they had first met, now understood by him as the stunning spell _stupefy_, and a red light flew from her wand and shot towards Matsumoto. As it neared her, Hitsugaya hoped silently that she at least knew what she was doing, but she had not even drawn her wand. People were muttering again, and something dawned on Hitsugaya. _Is she going to use Kidou? _

He was about to step out as the red light came a few inches from Matsumoto's face and stop her when she did something so unexpected Hitsugaya almost fell over in shock.

She stuck one foot out and hopped out of the way, letting the red light pass through the spot where she was just a second ago and crash into the wall. Everyone's jaw dropped, including Hitsugaya's and Hermione's, and Hitsugaya's head drooped in exasperation. The stupid woman was going to get herself fired soon. _Dodging spells? _What was wrong with her? Had she just taken the books out to look as if she had actually been studying? But then again, this was to be expected, after all, dodging something as slow as that spell was a piece of cake compared to everything else Matsumoto had dodged in the past (this included flying objects that were the result of Hitsugaya's annoyance), so she would not have to do anything at all.

After the shock passed, the entire class erupted in shouts of disbelief and doubts of Matsumoto's talent. She, however, did not care, instead she grinned sheepishly at Hitsugaya, all nervousness gone, and winked. He fumed at her, now really fighting the urge to scream at her, but still managed to regain self control and decided to wait before yelling at her for her incompetence.

"Now," she said cheerfully, clapping her hands together again, "Split into twos and practice!"

"B-but professor!" Hermione spluttered. "You haven't taught us how to-"

"This is Defense Against the Dark Arts, isn't it?" Matsumoto chirped. "I didn't get hit by your spell, so it's effective." She smiled widely and everyone reluctantly got into pairs. Hitsugaya vaguely heard Malfoy mutter, "If my father heard about this..."

Hermione came up to Hitsugaya and he could see she was obviously unhappy about the lack of magic used in this exercise. "Would you like to work together?"

Hitsugaya sighed but nodded anyway, if he was left standing idly in the middle of the room Matsumoto would surely come up and speak to him.

Hermione decided to dodge first, seeing as she had already cast the spell with Matsumoto, so Hitsugaya pulled out his wand, uninterested, and muttered, "Stupefy"

A jet of red light flew out from the tip of his wand. Hermione brandished her wand, ready to deflect it when she remembered she was supposed to be dodging it. Obviously she was too used to the use of magic in classes. Her brief confusion cost her, however, and the spell hit her on the shoulder as she ducked to avoid it. It looked as if she had suddenly lost all the feeling from her shoulder to her fingers, but she still pointed her wand at the stunned shoulder and said, "Enervate". There was a slight wince as she regained the use of her arm and smiled weakly at Hitsugaya. "Good job, Toshiro." Obviously she did not enjoy failure, from the unhappy look behind her fake smile. Hitsugaya nodded absentmindedly and waited for Hermione to shake her arm around a bit before dodging her spell perfectly.

"Well, y-you've got good reflexes, Toshiro." Hermione said, smiling again, although this time it more resembled a grimace. "So, it's my turn, right?"

They continued through the rest of the lesson in this manner. Hermione managed to successfully dodge it the second time, and the rest of the tries were just to kill time. Finally, the class was over, and many of the students looked up hopefully as Matsumoto inspected a wine bottle and stroked Momo, who was curled up on her lap. Noticing the stares, she checked the time and exclaimed, "Oh, is it already time? Okay then, for your homework..."

She ended up setting a five-page essay on the leg muscles and how they were used for moving around quickly, reading the entire textbook and... making 1000 paper cranes.

Apparently the first two were already outrageous (Hitsugaya received much more work back in Soul Society, so he was not too bothered, although he had yet to see what the homework had to do with the actual subject), but the last assignment was just completely insane. "It's for good luck!" Matsumoto protested as everyone expressed their disagreement (grossly understated). Malfoy called her a 'stupid woman who was going to get fired after he told his father about this' and even Hermione had a few protests of her own. But Matsumoto, who was used to Hitsugaya's constant yelling and scolding, waved all these complaints away and told them to hurry up and get it done. Hitsugaya sighed as he muttered under his breath: "That's my line."

She dismissed the class, her impish smile still stuck to her face, and closed the door.

"Well that was a completely rubbish class. I mean, we didn't even learn _anything _apart from jumping around like rabid rabbits. I'm actually starting to doubt her magical ability." Harry muttered as Ron nodded and chuckled at his comment on 'rabid rabbits'.

"Agreed." Ron said, rabbits forgotten "And the homework she set is just shockingly _evil_. One-_thousand _paper cranes? Is she completely out of her mind?" He squeaked in terror as if the idea was just far too terrifying to contemplate.

"Yeah... well if Dumbledore hired her, I guess she must be capable, right?" Hermione muttered. Ron looked at her exasperatedly and said, "Hermione, you are just way too naïve." This was followed by Hermione's many splutters of "_I'm _naïve? What about _you_, Ronald Weasly?"

"Well, guess we had better head down for lunch, or all the food will be gone."

"Is food _all _you ever think about, Ron?" Hermione asked, still annoyed from his comment on her being naïve.

He shrugged, "Hey, what's the problem with it?"

"Ah... we both have detentions tomorrow night." Harry sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I wonder what we'll have to do."

Hermione grumbled. "Well, you deserve them anyway, so suck up and deal with it."

"Eh? Hermione, are you still going on about that?" Ron asked.

She did not answer, simply grunted

---

Luna had showed up again, this time asking him how his classes went and muttering about the Nargles going into hibernation for the winter. Despite her strangeness, Hitsugaya had started to enjoy the girl's company. She, along with Hermione, were the only ones who didn't flinch away from him or call him short or any other infuriating insult. Although she, like Hermione, was in Hitsugaya's opinion rather persistent, she was not as annoying as the bushy haired girl who seemed to worry about every little thing about him.

"I quite like my house, Ravenclaw." she hummed, fingering her hair. "Although some people make fun of me, I don't really mind. There was this boy yesterday who called me 'Loony', so I told him he had Blue-Snout Swangies in his hair, but he didn't seem to understand. But it seems the nickname has caught on." She sighed and dug out a magazine from her bag and started reading. "Would you like one?" she asked Hitsugaya, handing him another copy. He shook his head, and Luna continued about how chilly it was getting. Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall and, strangely enough, not accompanied by Hermione. They sat at the other end of the table and started chattering animatedly to Seamus, Dean and Neville. Hitsugaya got up, having eaten enough to satisfy his stomach, and was about to say goodbye to Luna when she piped up,

"Going to the library?"

Hitsugaya looked surprised."Yes... how did you know?"

She looked up. "Oh, it's just the look on your face. See you later then."

He nodded and left the Hall, hoping to look for more information on Potter. While he was probably not a potential threat, what with his sudden fainting and strangely shaped lighting-bolt scar that attracted so much attention he was at least worth looking into, and as Hitsugaya's pride forbid himself to look ignorant when asking someone his only choice was, again, the library. It was a huge place, and he had only looked through a bit of it.

---

He found Hermione surrounded with five books in the library and reading another book with her left hand, scribbling notes on a piece of parchment with her other. Finding the last spot where he left off, Hitsugaya started looking around again.

This visit to the library was more fruitful than the last; although he found no reference to Harry Potter in the text of the books, he had managed to come across a small paragraph on someone who was 'too evil to mention, hence called He Who Must Not Be Named.' While the author of the book seemed far too terrified to elaborate on this strange person, although he had caught Hitsugaya's interest, it was not this that he had found useful in his search for Potter. Someone had scrawled in the margin _Long live Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. May his great deed remain in the hearts of wizards and witches everywhere. _While it was short, it obviously indicated that Potter had survived some tragic incident, presumably caused by this 'He Who Must Not Be Named' (Hitsugaya grumbled at this, muttering about its inventiveness and creativity, not to mention the fact that they actually were so scared of the guy that they could even write his _name_). Concluding that he could probably link Potter to this 'You-Know-Who' ("No, unfortunately I don't know who" Hitsugaya muttered) he decided to start looking for any reference to him. And if people were so scared of him, he most definitely could be a menace.

And so the search for Lord Voldemort (not that Hitsugaya knew him by that name) began.

---

Despite the day's events, Ron was as wolfish as normal, downing his food in seconds and reaching for more. Harry was eating less, instead concentrating on what he and Ron had in store for them in tomorrow night's detention. And then there was Quidditch, of course. He wondered if Wood's new training scheme would actually work, or if the results would be a drastic as last year's. After all, last year he had nearly died battling Voldemort and Quirrell, and had been in no condition to play. It was understandable that Wood wanted to improve his team. But then again, didn't waking up early mean more sleepiness? Harry pondered on the subject for a while before making a mental note to sleep early for once. It was hard trying to catch a Snitch if your eyelids were half closed.

Then his mind moved from the trivial subject of Quidditch to Toshiro Hitsugaya. He didn't know what had happened during breakfast this morning, only that the moment Hitsugaya had entered the Great Hall a great crushing force had suddenly seemed to squeeze the air out of his lungs, leaving him with no air at all. Then suddenly he felt sick and it had taken all his strength just to get up and run to the nearest toilet. Was it a spell that had caused it? While Harry's knowledge of spells was not too wide, he was pretty sure such a spell did not exist, or at least was not commonly used. And if it was a spell, then did Hitsugaya cast it, or had it just been a fluke that he had walked in at exactly the same time when he was affected?

_No, that's just too much of a coincidence. _Harry thought _I've been feeling sick all the time ever since he's come here; there's no way he could always be walking in at the wrong time. _With a lurch, he remembered Quirrell, whom he had fought last year. The apparently stuttering teacher had been trying to kill him all year, under Voldemort's orders, and would have succeeded had it not been for (Harry thought grudgingly) Snape, who had saved him from the broomstick incident, stopped Quirrell from getting to the dog and had, to some extent, stopped Quirrell from reviving his master.

And with a sudden revelation, Harry remembered Dobby, who had visited him during the summer, with disastrous results. But it was not the flying cake that Harry was worried about now. Dobby had told him not to return to Hogwarts, because something bad was going to happen to him.

_Was this what he was referring to? Am I in danger of Hitsugaya? Is he trying to kill me, like Quirrell, under Voldemort's orders?_

_But he is just twelve, maybe younger, judging by his looks. Why would Voldemort ask a boy to carry out the task of his revival? Isn't his life too precious to him to entrust to someone like that?_

Well, anyhow, he was going to discuss his theory with Hermione and Ron. It was pretty obvious that Toshiro Hitsugaya* was no ordinary boy; he could be in disguise for all he knew, after all, they had not suspected Quirrell until he had finally met him down in the chamber. Perhaps Hitsugaya was just another servant of Voldemort's, and his sole reason for coming to Hogwarts was to kill him. If that was the case, then once Harry got enough proof, he would take this immediately to Dumbledore.

---

"Tai-cho!"

Hitsugaya turned, annoyed, to look at Matsumoto, who had suddenly appeared behind him, Momo in her arms. She looked down at what he was writing and muttered.

"Taicho... you're already writing your report?"

A vein started to pulse in his head an he hissed, "Matsumoto, what part of 'you do not know me' do you not understand?"

"Well, I'm sorry." Matsumoto pouted. "But I wanted to ask how my first lesson went!"

Turning away and sighing, Hitsugaya answered casually, "It was awful. You continue at this rate and you're going to either get fired or, even worse, discovered, and then I'll have you moved to another division so I wont have to deal with you anymore."

"Eh?" Matsumoto said rather loudly. "Was it _that _bad?"

"Yes it was," Hitsugaya hissed, stepping on her foot to keep her quiet. "You're supposed to be teaching _magic, _not jumping around! Honestly, I wonder why the captain commander got _you _to do the job when the results would obviously be drastic."

"You're so mean, taicho!" Matsumoto whined, "It's not like I can actually try teaching that stuff!"

"Well, try anyway." Hitsugaya told her, returning to his report. "And you really have to stop looking at me for help all the time. How many times do I have to tell you?" _you could tell her a million times and the result would still be the same. _He thought to himself, smirking slightly.

Another pout. "Fine." Looking down at paper Hitsugaya was writing on, she asked,

"Taicho, who is this 'Lord Voldemort'? His name sounds weird…"

Looking at her with an extremely irritated look on his face, Hitsugaya yell-whispered, "Matsumoto, what did I just tell you?"

Grumbling, Matsumoto put Momo on her shoulder and left the library, muttering about something that most probably had something to do with beer.

Turning back to his report, Hitsugaya continued to read the book that he had propped out in front of him. It was a handwritten book, and the author had been shaking so much when he wrote Voldemort's name that it was all blotchy, but it was still legible, somewhat. After looking through the whole library's collection of books talking about famous wizards, Hitsugaya had found out that Voldemort was the greatest evil the wizarding world had seen in a long time, and that he would have taken over the world had it not been for the one person who led to his downfall. Harry Potter, also known as the Boy Who Lived ("Wow… imaginative…"). Apparently he was the only one in the history of the wizarding world who had survived the killing curse Voldemort had used to kill both his parents and many of his other victims. Despite all this, he didn't seem to special, or strong for that matter. Finishing off the report on today's findings, he rolled up the paper and packed it away in his bag, slamming the book shut and returning it to the shelf. The captain commander would probably be expecting some word soon, but apparently electronics did not work in this castle, as Hitsugaya had noticed when he flipped open his phone to check for Hollows. He'd probably have to get a hell butterfly to tell him of their progress then. Sighing, he left the library and headed off to his next class.

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***GAH!! That sounds so WEIRD!!**

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**I cracked up during lunch when I pictured Matsumoto jumping away from Hermione's spell, but the result after I wrote it did not _nearly _do it justice, so hopefully no one's too disappointed. Also, for some reason it was _so _hard writing Hitsugaya in character, but hopefully it's not too bad.**

**I have been sorely annoyed in the past week; the apartment next to ours is renovating and I am constantly having to deal with the knocking and drilling and crashing and whatever else happens there, and coupled with the ten different drilling sights all in our district I think I'm going to have a permanent headache :P Maybe that's why the writing quality has gone down, or maybe its just me... And I absolutely HATE the weather here, it starts raining like the world's going to end for literally ten seconds, and then the sun comes out again, and it seems so cheerful until it starts raining EVEN harder twenty seconds later! Grrrr...**


	7. Competition and Suspicions updated

**EDIT: 3/09/10. Poor Mrs. Norris… read on… **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter**

The sun had just started rising when Harry woke up. Groaning, he kicked his feet off the bed, got changed and made his way sleepily down the stairs. As Wood's desperate attempt to finally win the House Cup this year, all the Quidditch team members were now required to wake up at the crack of dawn to practice. Of course, Harry liked Quidditch, in fact, it was one of the things he looked forward to most when he was stuck at the Dursley's over the summer. But still, it was a bit too irritating to have to wake up this early, even for Quidditch. Still, as long as they didn't have to suffer it everyday, that'd be fine.

After breakfast he made his way to the pitch, his broom slung over his shoulder. It was still a little early but a few minutes wouldn't really make a difference. Wood was drawing out plans on the whiteboard, filling it with squiggles that were supposed to represent either the players or the balls, although at this stage it was near impossible to tell. He was tapping them with his wand every so often, making them shoot across the pitch he had drawn, supposedly making it easier to see, when in reality it just made it look even more meaningless than it already did. Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell were also there, sitting on a bench and having an animated conversation about love potions.

"Harry!" Wood said when Harry set his broom down. He clapped him on the back and said, "Well, now that you're here we just need to wait for Fred and George. Oh… and…" he looked at Harry at said, his voice dripping with grief, "I trust you heard about the incident with Alicia?"

Blinking, Harry shook his head.

"Well, that foul cockroach Montague from Slytherin, jinxed her yesterday with a very badly performed spell so she is now recuperating in the hospital wing." He shook his head, looking as if he had just lost his wand or something. "We are now short one Beater, but we're looking for a new one. If you could help…"

"Oh yeah… sure. Is Alicia okay though?"

Katie looked up. "Yes, she's fine, but her eyebrows have grown so large that she can't see anything behind them, and every time we try to cut it off it just grows back again. Her teeth have also grown so big that they're hanging off her face now, and it's taken a while looking for a counterspell."

"Well!" Wood said, clapping his hands together and looking quite pleased with himself, "Let us forget the sadness for now and… wait for our two Beaters…"

Angelina looked up at the mention of Fred and George and muttered under her breath, "There's no need to wait for them, Wood, they'll probably be here two hours late."

Pretending to ignore her, Wood finished off his 'foolproof plans' with a flourish of his wand, and color spread across the whiteboard, filling the pitch with a bright green and the squiggles with red. Looking very pleased with himself, Wood clapped his hands together and announced. "So, team, I trust you know why we are all here on this fine morning,"

"Of course we do, Wood, you were the one who dragged us out of bed to look at your _fine artwork_." Katie scowled, yawning slightly to prove her point.

"Well," Wood said, puffing himself up. "We want to _win _this year, Katie, and _this_," he gestured at the whiteboard "is how we will achieve that. Now…" he continued to explain everything about the squiggles, and Harry felt himself drift into a deep sleep…

Hitsugaya had only just sat down for breakfast when the Weasley twins (Forge and Greg or something) picked him right up again, looking up and down at him.

"What?" he barked, looking annoyed, mostly at the fact that they were able to pick him up so easily.

"I think this one will do, don't you George?" one of them asked the other.

"Yes, he'll be perfect for the job." George replied.

"For what job?" he demanded, releasing himself from their grip and glaring at them.

"I think we'll take him with us." The first one mused, completely ignoring him.

"What the hell are you talking-" He hadn't even managed to finish his sentence when he was picked right up again dragged out of the hall.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Hitsugaya shouted, wriggling out of the twins' grasp once more. Sighing in mock exasperation, they turned to face him.

"We're short one Chaser since Alicia was jinxed and is in the hospital wing right now." George or something said.

"And we need one if we want to win the Quidditch Cup," his twin said

"So Wood asked everyone to look for someone who would be able to play Chaser,"

"And we've decided that you can fill in for her!" they finished together, with a look on their face that suggested confetti was about to rain on them.

"Well, you can forget it." Hitsugaya answered at once, quite aware that they had not asked his opinion on the matter.

"You don't have much of a choice, mate." George said, shaking his head. "Right Fred?"

"Yup. Couldn't have said so any better myself." The other twin, now identified as Fred, answered.

"Well, firstly, I have no idea what 'Quidditch' is, or what a Chaser is, and frankly I neither have the time or interest to bother playing whatever game it is that you're talking about. I also _do not _belong to you, so I _do _have a say in what I'm going to do, so goodbye. I have more important matters to attend to."

"You don't know what Quidditch is?" Fred asked, his jaw hanging open. "Blimey, and I thought only your hair was weird!"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to rebut that comment, but was cut short by George.

"Quidditch is like, only the greatest sport ever known to wizardkind! Everyone knows what it is!"

"Evidently, not everyone." Fred sighed, looking at Hitsugaya pitifully and shaking his head in disbelief.

"And you're not helping me understand the big deal." Hitsugaya shot back, getting impatient now.

The twins looked at each other, then nodded. "Fine." Fred said

"Quidditch is a sport played on flying brooms." George explained

"And there are seven players on one team." Fred continued before Hitsugaya could comment on the flying brooms.

"Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and a Seeker."

"There are three different balls- one red Quaffle, two Bludgers and a Golden Snitch."

"The Chasers shoot by throwing the Quaffle into the goal hoops at the opposition's side of the pitch. The Keeper's job is to stop it from going through."

"The Beaters' jobs are to bat the Bludgers, which chase you around and konk you on the head, far away from their own team mates and at the opposition's team. That's us."

"The Seekers job is to catch the Golden Snitch, which is a _tiny _golden ball," George held his index finger and thumb together to show how small it really was.

"Once the Seeker catches the Snitch, the game is over and their team wins one hundred and fifty points, which usually means they win."

"And that's it. So you can come with us now…"

"Wait!" Hitsugaya shouted, slapping the twins' hands away. "You expect me to believe that this entire game is played on flying broomsticks? Like, old-witch-with-cauldron-cackling-away-with-warty-toad broomsticks?"

"You're from a wizarding family and you have never heard of flying brooms?" George gasped, staring at him like he was mental. "Fred, if we're really going to have to get a Chaser let's at least get a smarter one."

"What-"

"I think we should at least show him first. I mean, you are a very skeptical little boy, so let's open up that mind a bit."

"I agree." George said, drowning out Hitsugaya's "Little? I'm not little!" Chuckling, they grabbed one arm each at dragged him to the pitch.

They arrived about half an hour into Wood's lecture, grinning from ear to ear.

"Have you looked at the time, Fred, George?" Wood yelled, positively steaming.

"Yes we have, Wood, and we have a surprise for you."

"Please, if it's Dungbombs again I swear-"

"We found a new Chaser!" they said in unison, stepping aside to reveal the last person Harry wanted to see. Hitsugaya was scowling, looking as if he wanted nothing better than to kick both twins in the shins and stomp away. He did neither of these things, however, but managed to glare at everyone with such force that they all backed away. Everyone except Wood. He was examining him, looking up and down like Fred and George, and Hitsugaya felt the need to swipe him away.

"Have you ever flown on a broomstick before, …"

"Toshiro Hitsugaya. And no."

"Hitsu- oh right! Aren't you in first-year, though?"

"He's not." Harry said, looking fiercely at Hitsugaya, as if he could just stare him away. He had not forgotten his theory. "He's in my year."

"Oh, then that's fine, but if you haven't flown before…"

"Ol' Toshiro here didn't believe us when we told him about flying brooms." George claimed.

"But look at his weird hair and everything! It's perfect Chaser material!" Fred smirked.

Pursing his lips together, Wood looked first at Hitsugaya, then the twins, and finally the lonely looking squiggles. "But…"

"Oh, don't worry Wood!" Angelina chirped, looking absolutely delighted. "We'll do just fine without your perfect plan!"

Looking rather hopeless, Wood finally gave in to the increasing begging from his team and they made their way out to the pitch.

"Okay, so first you need a broom." Wood mused, picking one out from the cupboard. This one'll do. Try flying on it first." He threw it over to Hitsugaya, who caught it and stared at the thing, doubting with every fiber of his body that the thing in his hands would never even be able to hover for a millisecond.

"Hint, you mount it first." Fred whispered into his ear, grinning widely.

"Look, this is stupid, there's no way-"

"Are you scared?" George taunted, grinning just as widely.

Abandoning all doubt, Hitsugaya swung one leg over the broomstick (muttering "this is stupid" under his breath), took a deep breath, and kicked off. To his utter surprise, the broom actually shot upwards and started flying. Despite himself, a smile broke out as he easily maneuvered around the pitch and did a loop-the-loop. Of course, he had flown before, his Bankai gave him wings after all. This wasn't too different, and the speeds weren't too fast.

"I guess it shouldn't be too surprising." Hitsugaya muttered as he managed to take control of his boyish desire to whiz right through all the hoops.

"Isn't a silly game like this going to waste your precious time?" Hyourinmaru's voice echoed somewhere within the depths of his mind as he hovered a few feet from the ground.

"Hn. Who said I was actually going to play?"

"Well, you fly pretty well, Toshiro!" Wood shouted, now mounting his own broomstick. "This is your first time?"

"Hah, and the little twerp didn't believe us when we said you could fly on broomsticks." George chuckled, instantly regretting it after he got a hard beating in the head from the 'little twerp'.

Wood threw the Quaffle at Hitsugaya, who managed to balance on his broom without his hands long enough to catch the red ball. He noticed, mildly surprised, that even though he wasn't gripping it very tightly, it seemed like he was still holding it very firmly as if there were finger holes. He suspected it had been enchanted or something.

"Okay, so basic practice, we're just going to fly around and you can throw the Quaffle between Angelina and Katie and try getting it through the hoops."

It was incredibly easy, compared to everything else he had ever handled it was like breathing, really. Fred and George seemed to have noticed, and decided to spice up the game by batting Bludgers everywhere. Once one of the black iron ball had come so close to Hitsugaya that he had to, while clutching the Quaffle under his arm, hang off his broom and dangle there like a sloth while the Bludger whizzed past the spot where he had been half a second ago. This was subject to awed staring as Hitsugaya spun back upright again, looking puzzled.

"What?"

"You just did the Sloth Grip Roll!" one of the twins exclaimed, his jaw hanging open yet again. It sure was unsightly. "You sure you've never flown before?"

"Sloth wha?"

"Well, I think this settles it. Welcome to the Gryffindor team, Toshiro!" Wood declared, hardly suppressing a grin. Hitsugaya had opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by Katie, who pointed at seven green dots striding across the pitch.

"Oh, I don't believe this," Wood exclaimed in exasperation, landing. The Slytherin team were making their way across the pitch, sneering. Looking sorely annoyed, Wood approached them and said firmly, "We've reserved this pitch, Flint,"

"The Slytherin Quidditch team sneered. "Yeah, we know, but we have a note from Professor Snape, requesting that we use the court. Although it's not much of a request, more of an order, Wood." He waved a small piece of paper in front of his face, still grinning. Wood snatched it from his hand and started reading. After a while he muttered,

"You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

If Harry had been displeased to see the Slytherin team here, that was nothing compared to the fury he felt when he saw who emerged from behind the captain.

Draco Malfoy, with his infuriating haughty expression and slicked back blond hair, clutching a new broomstick most probably given to him by his father. He smirked at Harry, looking very pleased at his triumph.

"And that's not the only thing that's new, Potter." Malfoy goaded, bringing his broom forward so that everyone could see it. The rest of the Slytherin team followed suit. Ron and Hermione had come down from the stands and were now rushing across the pitch. Ron noticed the gold engraving near the end of the broomstick and gasped as he looked at all the other brooms.

"Those are Nimbus 2001's!" he exclaimed, looking greedily at them. "Where'd you get those?"

"A gift from Draco's father." Flint smiled smugly.

"At least no one in the Gryffindor team had to _buy _their way in." Hermione piped in, "They got in on pure talent."

Malfoy looked at her in revulsion. "No one asked for your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."

Hermione suddenly looked furious and was about to open her mouth and respond when Ron pulled out his wand and yelled, "Eat slugs!"

Unfortunately for Ron, the spell never reached its intended target, but instead turned around at the spot where it had been taped together and rushed back to its caster. Ron was sent flying backwards, and, like he said, started belching slugs. Harry, Hermione and Hitsugaya (all H's :D) rushed over to help him, pulling one arm each and tugging him up, Hitsugaya helping Hermione, who was having troubles supporting Ron's left arm.

"Let's take him to Hagrid's" Hermione huffed as she jumped left to avoid another slug. "He'll know what to do." Harry nodded and together they heaved Ron away from the pitch, which was now filled with crawling slugs.

Hitsugaya had never been to this part of the grounds before, but upon remembering that the forest bordering the castle was called the Forbidden Forest, he made a mental note to visit again, after Weasley had cleaned up the trail of slugs.

They had managed to slam the door open and heave a green Ron into the small hut where the person called Hagrid lived. Hitsugaya soon found out that Hagrid was a huge man at least three times taller than him, much of his face concealed by a thick and hairy beard, "Blimey, wha' happened to Ron?"

"Backfired jinx." Harry groaned as Ron settled onto a nearby bench. Hagrid looked worried at Ron, then his eyes slid over to Hitsugaya, who had not sat down, but stayed standing by a wall, glaring a drooling dog that was barking at his feet. A question formed in his eyes, but he didn't voice it.

"How'd it backfire?" Hitsugaya inquired quietly. He knew spells could go wrong if not performed properly, obviously, but the way at which Ron's spell had backfired was quite peculiar.

Hermione sighed. "His wand is broken, you see. It got broken in their _reckless _trip in that car. He hasn't really been able to fix it since."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hitsugaya sighed.

"Well, this requires specialist equipment…" Hagrid grunted, turning and shifting through some things in another corner of the house. "Who's your new friend, Harry?"

"He's not my-" Harry stopped mid sentence as Hermione stepped on his foot and said cheerfully,

"This is Toshiro. A new student," she answered happily, edging out of the way of a multicolored slug, which had just erupted from Ron's mouth. "I didn't know you were so good at flying, Toshiro, you're better than Harry!"

"Nearly as good as him, more like. Can't really fill in Alicia's place with only that." Ron grunted, heaving out yet another slug. Hagrid returned, thrusting a bucket at Ron, who caught it just in time before another slug came up. "I heard Alicia was jinxed, so you've taken her place, eh Toshiro?"

"No, I… I don't have the time…" Yes, the game certainly was pretty interesting, but it would be a waste of time, after all, he was here on a job, not to throw some ball around like a twelve-year-old.

"What're you talking about? We don't really have that much homework." Ron grunted, evidently forgetting that just moments ago he had been all against Hitsugaya joining the team. "And besides, you're probably another Hermione, you'll get your homework done in about two seconds and you'll have loads of time to do everything else."

"I see you a lot in the library though." Hermione murmured as Ron shut up to throw up another batch of crawlies, ignoring his comment on her getting her homework done in two seconds. "What do you do there?"

"I read." Hitsugaya stated in a monotone, giving her an _obviously _look. Hermione flushed slightly but ploughed on. "About what?"

Hitsugaya sighed, uncrossing his arms and bending forwards. "This and that."

"But seriously, you can't spend all day in the library or you'll become Hermione!" Ron piped up, avoiding her annoyed glare. "You've got to relax a bit sometimes."

Hitsugaya sighed. Yes, he was busy, but wasn't trying the game out another way of investigating? Previously he had thought that flying brooms were a silly fairytale, but now he discovered that they did exist. Besides, he couldn't spend all day on the ground, with the Bankai of a flying ice dragon he was born for two main purposes, to love the cold, and to love the sky and the feeling of soaring through it.

"I guess I could try it out…"

"That's great!" Hagrid beamed, trying to make it look obvious through his thick mane of hair. "I mean, the Gryffindor team is grea', but some fresh blood woul' do it some good."

Hitsugaya nodded and they sat in silence until Ron vomited another slug. Deciding that if he saw another slug again he'd probably start vomiting as well, Hitsugaya stood up and bowed. "It's been nice meeting you, Professor Hagrid. I have some matters to attend to, so I will be going." He left.

"Why, he was a respectful one, wasn' he?" Hagrid mused, beaming. "You kids shoul' learn from him, but calling me a Professor was a bit much, don't you think?"

Hermione chuckled weakly, while Harry was still having an inner conflict with himself as to whether or not he should tell his friends about his suspicions. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to tell, he whispered,

"Guys, I've been thinking..."

He explained his theory as quietly as possible so as to not let Hagrid hear, occasionally cut off but Ron's belching. When he finished, he was not surprised to see Hermione raising her eyebrow skeptically and Ron looking at him as if he were nuts.

"Harry, I understand that Toshiro is quite… strange, given his hair and eyes. But just because he looks a little different doesn't mean he'd be working for You-Know-Who…"

"Yeah Harry, do you really think You-Know-Who would recruit someone like him? Sure, he's a total freak-" Hermione glared, "but you know, not even he would be crazy enough to get a _boy _to work for him."

"Yeah, but what if this is exactly what Dobby warned me about last year?" Harry hissed, annoyed at his friends' stubbornness. "What if he is actually here to kill me?"

"And what would he achieve by doing so?" Hermione asked, "I mean, he didn't even know who you _were_, remember? Back at the bookstore? Most people would go, 'Mr. Potter, what a pleasure it is to meet you' but he just looked at you as if you were nothing special!"

"Well, what if he met Voldemort after that, say… before he came to Hogwarts?" Ron and Hermione winced at the mention of his name, but Harry ignored them.

"Harry look, I know you started feeling sick when Toshiro came into the hall, and I know you think he must have cast some sort of spell on you or something, but he never reached for his wand, I saw both his hands clearly, with no hand in either! I mean, if you were a really skilled wizard you might be able to cast a simple spell like _accio_ without a wand but a second-year like him would not be able to even make a spark without a wand!"

"Then what if he really is a skilled wizard, disguised as a twelve-year-old?"

"It would still be incredibly hard to do something like that even if you were Dumbledore!"

Harry crossed his arms and grumbled as Ron vomited out another slug, this time multicolored. While he was still feeling quite sick, the intervals between each slug were getting longer, and the color was returning to his face.

"'Arry, trust me," he muttered weakly as he spat out some slime. "Dad says that You-Know-Who is much weaker than he ever was right now, and he wouldn't just give his life to some boy, and there isn't even anything that can make you look so much like someone else!"

"Actually," Hermione cut in, "there is."

"What?" Harry asked, looking eagerly at her. "What is it?"

"It's called Polyjuice Potion." Hermione muttered, looking rather abashed at helping Harry prove his point. "When its correctly brewed, you can look like whoever you want to be, provided that you have a bit of them, say… hair for example."

"So," Harry announced triumphantly. "Like I said, if he really was a skilled wizard in disguise, all he'd need is that Potion and a bit of someone's hair and he'd look like an innocent little boy!"

"Yeah, except that you'd need an incredibly large supply to look like that for an extended period of time, and you'd need to keep drinking it within an hour, and we've seen Toshiro go on for more than an hour without drinking anything." Hermione snapped.

"And if he really was one of You-Know-Who's cronies come to kill you in disguise, he would have at least chosen someone with _normal _hair; someone who would fit in." Ron said. "And besides, he's had plenty of chances to kill you, but you're still sitting in front of us."

Looking defeated, but still determined that Hitsugaya was, indeed, bent on murdering him, he grunted once and changed the subject, asking if Ron was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he groaned, looking down at the slugs sloshing in the bucket. "Thanks a lot Hagrid. I think I should be fine now."

Hagrid nodded as they left. "Well, see you later then."

Harry had just come back from detention with McGonagall, having sorted through different colored centipedes, formerly scorpions, left over from the previous third-year transfiguration class. Some had not completely transformed into centipedes and still had stinging scorpion tails, leaving Harry with painful blisters and boils on his hands. He started making his way back to the common room, thinking about how hungry he was, when he heard a strange voice.

_Kill_

Harry stopped walking and around. The hallway was empty.

_I smell blood…_

He started running, dinner forgotten. Rounding a corner, he heard the voice again, and it sounded more eager, more excited, as if it had found its target…

_Kill_

"Potter."

He stopped to find Hitsugaya standing in front of him, supposedly just coming back from dinner. He looked quite surprised; maybe it was because of Harry's sudden presence or… had he been the one….

"What are you doing here?" Harry panted, glaring at the shorter boy. Looking rather annoyed, he answered,

"I just finished dinner. What are you doing here?"

Harry looked around. Apart from the white haired boy, there was no one in the stone corridor. The fire flickered slightly, casting shadows on both their faces, making Hitsugaya look creepy (not that he wasn't anyway).

"Were you… doing anything?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Doing… anything?"

"I-I heard… voices…" He was suddenly aware that he felt completely fine. Had Hitsugaya abandoned that ploy? Was he doing something else now?

"Voices?"

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron were running towards him, Ron still looking slightly green. He had not eaten dinner of course, having served detention with Filch cleaning trophies in the trophy room.

"We've been looking for you everywhere, where've you been? Oh, hi Toshiro!" Hermione smiled, looking nervously at Harry as if expecting him to do something. Hitsugaya looked questioningly at her.

"As a matter of fact," Hitsugaya cut across Hermione, clearing his throat slightly. "I think I did hear someone speaking, although I wasn't able to completely tell the exact nature of the words."

"You heard voices?" Hermione asked sharply, looking at Harry again.

"Yeah… I was coming back from McGonagall's detention when I heard-" He stopped as the voice burst out again, ringing in his ears.

_Blood…_

"Did you hear that?" Harry whispered as Hitsugaya turned, supposedly he had heard the voice too. "It's moving. I think it's going to kill."

"Kill?" Ron squeaked as Harry continued to run, following the strange voice. Ron, Hermione and Hitsugaya followed him.

As they ran (quite slowly; Hitsugaya would have shunpoed had it not been for the Harry and his friends, after all, it would be quite unnerving to see someone just disappear before your eyes, probably even in the wizarding world) Hitsugaya started inspecting the walls, pretty sure that the voice had come from them, or within them. He wouldn't be surprised if it had been the walls themselves that had talked, but given the circumstances; Harry, out of breath and acting as if nothing like that had ever happened before, hearing a voice that neither Ron nor Hermione could hear, but one that he could… Maybe it was just because his hearing was better, but had not thought of Potter as one with great hearing; it seemed as normal as anyone else's. And then the voice… it was really quite strange, it didn't seem to be speaking in English or Japanese, at least not directly, but it seemed that Hitsugaya's brain had worked past the original sound that had issued from the speaker and translated it into a comprehensible language, in his case, Japanese. But then, there were some parts where he could not totally understand, although the sentences were generally quite short. Instead of a word, he heard some hissing, similar to that of a snake. Almost identical, actually.

"I wonder if Hyourinmaru (sp?) has anything to do with this…" he murmured, dismissing the thought almost immediately when he remembered that Potter did not have an ice dragon as a sword.

They reached the end of a corridor to meet a flooded hallway.

"There's probably been a leakage. There's a bathroom not far from here, I suspect it could have come from there." Hermione muttered, looking at the water. Her eyes traveled further down the hallway, and they heard a sharp intake of air as her eyes focused on something reflected in the water.

"It's Mrs. Norris." Hitsugaya muttered tonelessly, looking at the cat. It was stiff and lifeless, the reason for its stiffness being that it was incased in a large block of ice. Its eyes were bulging, the tongue stuck out in a way that would have been comical if it wasn't real. Hermione yelped and jumped back, a hand over her mouth in horror.

"Someone's written something." Ron squeaked. "In blood."

Sure enough, someone had written some words in what Hitsugaya had initially thought were red paint, now identified as blood, on the wall. Whether it was human or not, he could not tell. The words read, 'Enemies of the Heir, Beware." Apparently someone had dipped their finger in the blood and had written the warning, or more of a threat.

"The cat is still alive." He said, looking at it. He could still sense some of its life energy, suggesting that the cat was paralyzed or something similar. How it could stay alive while stuck in ice, he wasn't sure.

"Still alive?" Ron asked, looking very pale. "But... it looks dead! Plus it's frozen!"

"Who would have done this…?" Hermione asked quietly, the fear in her eyes reflecting onto the other two.

Just then, people who had just finished dinner were making their way back to the common rooms. People were muttering "Ugh... water," and "Ew... the toilet's been leaking," but when they saw the cat and the writing and the four second years standing underneath the horrible scene they all fell silent.

"'Enemies of the Heir, Beware?'" someone sneered at last. Hitsugaya turned his head and saw Malfoy, smiling his usual unpleasant smile. "You'll be next, Mudbloods."

There was some commotion and Filch, the owner of the ill-fated cat, pushed his way through the terrified and confused students and stopped when he saw his beloved cat hanging frozen on the wall. When the initial shock wore off, however, he eyed the four, fury in his eye. "You have killed my cat!"

"It wasn't us!" Harry exclaimed, looking at Hermione and Ron for help. They both nodded. "we were going back to the common room when we... found Mrs. Norris."

There was a pause as Filch tried to see if they had told a truth or a lie when Dumbledore emerged from the crowd, followed by Snape, McGonagall and... Matsumoto. She looked, quite terrified, at the cat and the writing, then looked at Hitsugaya asking him what the heck was going on. Dumbledore's eyes wandered to the words, and McGonagall gasped.

"Everyone," Dumbledore announced, "Follow your Prefects back to the dormitories." Relieved, the students almost pushed people over as they scrambled to get away from the flooded corridor. "Everyone except," They stopped. "You four."

It seemed that Potter and his gang were constantly the center of attention from everyone's faces as they looked at them, but Hitsugaya was quite reluctant to become part of it. Regardless of that, he stopped walking and turned around.

"They have killed my cat." Filch growled, furious. "I want to see some punishment!"

Dumbledore inspected the cat, running a finger over the cold ice. Somehow it had not started melting yet, despite being next to a torch of fire. A frown appeared on his face, but that was replaced by a look of reassurance when he turned to the caretaker.

"She has been Petrified, Argus, but she is not dead. You need not worry, Professor Sprout tells me she has a batch of Mandrake roots that will be able to revive her. But as for you four..."

"It could not have been Potter, Albus." McGongall said, her face very anxious. "He was serving detention with me. As was Weasley, with Mr. Filch in the trophy room."

"I was at dinner." Hitsugaya said, "As I said, I was returning to the common room and bumped into Potter, who was running to this site."

"I was with Toshiro." Hermione mumbled, "We met Harry when he said..."

"When he said...?" Snape inquired.

"When I said I wasn't hungry." Harry lied, looking straight at the greasy man's eyes.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," Dumbledore said, looking at them. "Very well, you may return to your common room."

"P-professor?" Harry stammered as the teachers left. Dumbledore turned.

"I-I have something I... wish to tell you." Hermione and Ron looked at him and then Hermione pulled him closer and whispered something in his ear. She looked quite agitated, but Harry seemed to have a retort for her and she fell back.

"I'll... just go." Hermione mumbled. Ron followed her.

"Me too." Hitsugaya said, giving Matsumoto a look that said, "I'll meet you at your office later." She nodded.

The mission had seemed simple enough for the past few days, with nothing out of the ordinary apart from talking pictures and flying candles. But then of course, missions like these were never easy, or they would have just sent an unseated officer, not a captain and his vice-captain. With the incident of the cat, things were definitely going to get rather… out of hand.

"Toshiro, you said you heard the same voice as Harry did?"

"I take that hearing voices isn't a good sign."

"No it's not." Ron said, almost angry.

"What did the voice say?"

"Well… I couldn't understand some of it, but it was mostly talking about blood and killing, I think."

"It wasn't English?" Hermione asked.

"Well…" there was a pause. "I didn't actually hear it in English, but rather in Japanese. But there were some times when the comprehensible language was just cut off and was replaced by hissing.

"But Harry doesn't understand Japanese!" Hermione said, her voice getting more agitated by the second. "And now he's gone to talk to Dumbledore about…" She stopped abruptly when Ron stepped on her foot.

"Talk to Dumbledore about…?"

"About the toilets!" Hermione almost squealed in a desperate attempt to cover up her mistake. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Potter is going to talk to the Headmaster about the _toilets_?"

Hermione chuckled uneasily. "Well, yeah… Harry is… quite… fascinated in … toilets… and you know, with the… leakage…."

"I did not realize that toilets were such a big issue in the wizarding world."

"Oh, are you from a Muggle family then?" Ron asked quickly, both of them red in the face.

"A Muggle family?"

"Y-yeah… non-wizards."

"Er… well my mother is a witch but my dad has no magical powers… whatsoever." Hitsugaya lied, still staring at the pair as they tried very hard to make him forget about Harry talking to Dumbledore. They were failing miserably.

"Oh, so where'd you get your freaky hair from?" Ron asked. Hitsugaya glared at him until he realized his mistake. "Sorry."

"Well, if you must know," There was a pause as Hitsugaya went through all the possible excuses he could use and chose the most likely one.

"Some genetic thing from my grandfather, passed on from my father. My case is more serious but it just… gives me white hair. It does not affect anything else though"

"Oh, so you're not an albino or anything?"

Hitsugaya flushed in anger. Pride really was quite troublesome sometimes. "No I am not."

Ron whimpered as the temperature lowered slightly and the candles flickered.

"Well, we'd better hurry; if Filch catches us out of bed at this hour he'll skewer us for sure." Hermione announced, turning and hurrying up the stairs. The two boys followed, and Hitsugaya made a mental note to find out exactly what it was that Potter was trying to tell Dumbledore.

"Harry, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Dumbledore asked as the three others disappeared around the corner.

"It's about… Hitsugaya, sir." Harry said, looking sideways at Matsumoto, who was standing next to McGonagall, who was cleaning up the writing and taking Mrs. Norris down. Matsumoto was supposed to be returning to her office but when she heard the mention of her captain she stopped and pretended to clean up the water (unsuccessfully).

"Mr. Hitsugaya?" Dumbledore asked, "Our new student? What about him?"

"Well… he…" Harry stopped, looking uncomfortably at the teachers who were all trying to clean everything up.

"Could I speak with you alone, sir?" he asked finally as Matsumoto slipped as she attempted mopping up the water with her robes. She landed on the floor with a splash and a rather painful sounding splat, got up quickly, and grimacing at the other exasperated teachers and excused herself, muttering about paperwork and other things. Strangely enough, Harry had been feeling rather strained for a while, a little like when, according to him, Hitsugaya had cast a spell on him, but now the weight that he had felt seemed to lift. Was this his doing again? Flushing slightly in anger, he wondered if the guy really was determined enough to try the same trick again.

"I'm sorry Harry, but I have some things to attend to at the moment, as you can see. Maybe you could find me again later?"

"But Professor, this is very important!" Harry said desperately. "You see, I- I think Hitsugaya is behind these attacks!"

McGonagall had overheard and gasped as she turned away from the blood stained wall. "Mr. Potter, that is a very serious accusation; and Mr. Hitsugaya already said that he had been in the Great Hall at the time of the attack!"

"Yes, but I don't think he is as he seems!" Harry persisted. He turned back to Dumbledore. "Professor, during breakfast yesterday I fell very sick the moment Hitsugaya entered the Great Hall, and he wasn't with Hermione when he first bumped into me! He might have had enough time to-"

"Mr. Potter, I did not see Mr. Hitsugaya pull out his wand during breakfast yesterday and it is simply impossible for a-"

"Minerva." Dumbledore interrupted, silencing them both. "Harry, I shall look into this matter, it does, after all, sound suspicious, but I suggest you go back to your dormitory, after all, growing children need their sleep, and I do not think that in his present condition Argus would feel agreeable enough to let you off without punishment, despite our deepest reassurances, don't you think?" He smiled again, and patted him on the shoulder. Harry bit his lip in frustration, but nodded anyway and turned, walking back to the common room.

"Matsumoto, why are your robes all wet?" Hitsugaya asked, looking at her tiredly.

"Well, I was trying to mop up the water with these horrible robes, but I slipped and got everything wet!"

"You're just trying to get rid of them, aren't you?" Hitsugaya sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway, did you manage to make anything of the paralyzed cat?"

"No… although that Potter boy did have something to say about you…"

"About me?"

"Yeah… but I didn't manage to hear much." Hitsugaya looked at her exasperated. "Well, you know, the other teachers were all staring at me like I was weird or something so you know, I just left!"

He sighed again. "I thought it might have been because of the food, but now I'm pretty sure that Potter can sense reiatsu, at least to some extent; he fainted yesterday; probably from the lack of air, and he's been looking rather pale for a while. His friends said that it's unnatural for him to act like that, so I guess we have to attribute it to his ability to sense reiatsu… Although…"

"But our reiatsus are sealed! Not to mention that they're hidden behind our gigais!" Matsumoto finished for him, looking worried now.

"Well, we have to be more careful from now on. Given the present circumstances, Potter will most definitely become suspicious if he associates my entering the Great Hall and his sudden falling ill. Although I hope he is not foolish enough to think I have anything to do with the cat, or maybe too foolish to put together the evidence. Anyhow, we must investigate this incident, despite it being merely a cat we must not rule out if whatever happened might happen to any of the students."

Matsumoto nodded. "Does that mean we have to control our reiatsus even more?"

"Well, until we have anything proving that Potter's illness was not caused by our reiatsus, yes. Who knows, the other students might be able to sense reiatsus as well, and it'd be quite troublesome if Hollows started appearing. And dry your robes because you are not spending any more of our money buying more."

Another nod. "Okay, taicho!" she grinned, giving him a thumbs-up. "Now be a good boy and hurry to bed before I give you a detention!"

A vein started pulsing and he grimaced at her. "I am still your superior, Matsumoto."

"Not here you aren't!" Her grin grew wider. "Good night, taicho!"

"Whatever. Good night," he muttered, closing the door behind him.

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! They really do mean a lot to me! Please review this chapter as well, it'd be much appreciated!**

**FallenSnow12**


	8. Just Another Normal Day at School

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. **

The next day continued as normal, as if the incident concerning the caretaker's cat never happened. Of course, the whispers and theories about the cause of the cat's condition continued to circulate; talk in Hogwarts, apparently, went around even faster than in Soul Society, and it didn't help that everyone had seen Potter and his gang and the freaky new student standing right at the scene. Now people were wondering whether Potter had anything to do with it, although apparently it was more fun coming up with what the short 'old man' was up to.

Nevertheless, while rumors born out of pure ignorance annoyed Hitsugaya greatly, especially if they were about him (which they usually were), he managed to deny enough of the talk to shut most of the students up.

Meanwhile, he discovered that he had just only brushed the top of the strangeness of the wizarding world as the next day's classes continued.

They were having Herbology in one of the greenhouses, which was filled with many weird plants that squirmed whenever approached, and another that sprung out at a Slytherin boy when he tried to poke it, digging its… teeth…? into the boy's finger. Another attempted munching off Hitsugaya's arm, but he managed to dodge it, so its leafy fangs ended up in someone else's leg instead.

The teacher was a woman with frizzy unkept hair, squished underneath an old and threadbare pointed hat, later identified as Professor Sprout. She looked completely at home within the strange plants, probably because she had to be, being the teacher of the subject.

"Good morning class!" she boomed as everyone gathered around the table in the middle. "Today, we will be learning about repotting mandrakes. Who here knows the effects of a mandrake root?"

Hitsugaya, who was sandwiched between Hermione and Ron despite his protests, nearly got hit full in the face as Hermione's hand shot up, almost as if by reflex. Sprout nodded in her direction, and she announced, articulating each word perfectly, giving the impression that she had practiced her answer buried behind a textbook.

"The mandrake root can be used to revive those who have been Petrified. It is also quite dangerous; a mandrakes cry can kill anyone who hears it."

"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor!" the professor smiled as Hermione apologized repeatedly to a red-faced Hitsugaya (whose face was red as a result of being hit in the face, not because he was angry, although it was a possible factor).

"Seeing as these roots are still young their cries won't kill you yet, but they will knock you out for several hours which is why you should put these on." She motioned to a line of furry earmuffs on a bench next to the table, and suddenly the entire greenhouse was in chaos as everyone tried to grab a pair of earmuffs that were aesthetically acceptable. Hitsugaya, who was old enough to stay put and wait for the chaos to die down was awarded for his maturity with a hideous pair of pink and furry things attached to an even furrier wire. Grimacing, he reluctantly forced the things onto his head just in time to block out part of the literally ear-splitting scream that issued from a recently disturbed root. Clenching his teeth together, the white haired shinigami tried to picture his peaceful office that was probably slowly piling up with paperwork. He tried imagining the perfectly normal plants that stood at the corners of the room, plants that didn't bite or scream. He even managed to squeeze in a glimpse of Hinamori, coming home from the Shinigami Academy, jumping up and down, eager to recall her experiences there. None of it helped drain out the endless wailing. Professor Sprout was trying to yell over the screaming, and it took all of his concentration to swallow the nausea that was building and listen to her instructions. Across from them, Neville Longbottom fainted, falling to the floor with a slight thump. Burying the plant under a pile of wet soil, Sprout looked pointedly at the unconscious boy.

"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs," she stated, cutting through the much appreciated quiet.

"No ma'am, he's just fainted," the boy next to him said, his name escaping the depths of Hitsugaya's mind. To be honest, Hitsugaya felt like fainting too, but he wasn't going to ruin his reputation of a child prodigy (not that it did him much good here, in the real world) and suffer endless teasing from Matsumoto if she found out.

The rest of the lesson proceeded as normal, if you counted screaming, human shaped plants biting anything within a ten-inch radius as normal. His report was going to be so full of hyperbole about these plants.

"Hermione," Hitsugaya shouted over the loud wailing, in the middle of repotting his fifth mandrake, "You said these could revive Petrified people?"

Hermione nodded as she looked disgustedly at the mandrake that was wagging its tongue, trying to reach her finger, and screeching at the same time. "Yes, but these are too young, you need to cultivate mature ones or they wont work on the petrified person. Which is why Mrs. Norris is still immobilized."

"Speaking of Mrs. Norris," Hitsugaya shouted, partly freezing a mandrake in his annoyance as its piercing screams crossed the line of his patience, receiving a rather puzzled look from Hermione. "You've never heard of anything like that happening?"

"No, and I admit I'm quite frightened, I mean, it could have just been a trick, everyone hates Mrs. Norris, but to go that far…"

She dropped the mandrake root viciously into the pot and shoveled as much soil on top of it before pressing down hard to silence its squeals. Scowling, she exclaimed, "I hate these things."

Hitsugaya nodded in agreement as the mandrake in his hand suddenly fell silent and the air around it started billowing in silver swirls.

Luna still came to visit the Gryffindor table at lunch, smiling as she settled down beside Hitsugaya.

"I know you didn't have anything to do with it," she hummed quietly as Hitsugaya finished the second page of the essay about leg muscles. While he thought the homework was absolutely useless, seeing as it was set by Matsumoto, and that it had just been a result of her last-minute 'work', he wasn't looking forward to having to serve detention with his own subordinate, and knowing Matsumoto, she'd probably stick him next to a blazing fire working on her own paperwork.

"Didn't have anything to do with what?" he asked, looking up.

"Mr. Filch's cat. You weren't lying when you said that you had just bumped into Harry, and that you had just happened to be there."

"How do you know that I wasn't lying?"

"Oh, people who are telling the truth just look different from people who lie. People who are telling the truth but are holding something back are a totally different matter." She did not even look at him, when she said the last bit, and her tone did not imply anything, but Hitsugaya's eyes widened slightly nevertheless.

"Oh, I know you're not going to tell me, so you can relax." Luna mused, looking at him with her wide eyes. "Everyone has their little secrets, so don't worry, I won't badger you to tell me."

Hitsugaya smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Luna returned to her magazine. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is quite strange. I had her lesson yesterday, it was quite… useless, if you ask me."

Hitsugaya grimaced as he tried to think of an excuse for his vice-captain. It wasn't very easy; after all, he always left her to make up her own excuses. "Perhaps her way of teaching is just… different."

Luna looked up, her finger on her chin, looking at Matsumoto, who was having what appeared to be a lively conversation with Hagrid about God-knows-what. "Yes, perhaps."

That was when he was suddenly blinded by a flash of light. Blinking, annoyed, and with a sudden memory of Matsumoto trying to sneak a picture of him as a task for the Shinigami Women's Association, the temperature dropped and the source of the sudden light whimpered slightly. When Hitsugaya regained his sight, he found the boy he had met the other night, Colin Creevey, clutching an old fashioned camera and looking nervously over it.

"Did you just take my picture?" he asked, not curiously but rather demanding why on Earth he dared to do so.

Colin whimpered again. "W-well, my dad wanted to know about the wizarding world, m-my parents are m-muggles, you see, and…"

"And I'm far too fascinating to not take a picture of?" Hitsugaya growled, glaring at the frightened boy.

"No, well, you see… I'm taking pictures of everyone in Gryffindor and…"

"You haven't taken a picture of me." Ron piped in. Hitsugaya sighed as he dismissed the matter as far too unimportant to worry about at returned to writing.

"Look, I'll give you back the picture if you-"

"It's fine, I don't care either way." Hitsugaya muttered, not really listening to him any more. Colin bit his lip, torn between the urge to give him back the picture and avoid any future disputes and keeping it to show exactly how freaky his hair really was. Finally deciding on the latter, he scurried away, trying to get as far away as possible from the white haired boy.

Looking at his hopelessly short essay for Matsumoto (four and a half pages as opposed to the minimum five), having completely depleted his knowledge on the quadriceps and gastrocnimiuses, biceps, tibias, patellas, gluteus maximuses, and other strange Latin words, Hitsugaya decided he'd just have a word with her later about how her sake stores would 'inexplicably disappear' if she tried giving him detention. Of course, that wouldn't work on the other teachers, and he still had a twelve-inch essay for Flitwick. Sighing, he started packing up his things.

"You could twai writing in a lahgah font, you know. Your handwaiting is chaainy (tiny)" Ron said, in the middle of chewing a turkey. Giving him a look of repugnance, Hitsugaya said, "You could try swallowing your food before you talk."

"Ah… 'Mione's always tryin' to get me to shwallow, not like I lishen to her."

"It is quite a disgusting sight." Luna said, her eyes looking over the top of her magazine.

Ron scowled at her and swallowed. "But seriously mate, your handwriting is tiny, I've only got like… one page and one letter is already half the page. And none of it is actually about the subject."

"So in all, you've written two words?" Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One and a half."

He sighed and wondered how it was that these kids could be so lazy. Maybe it was just how children in the real world were. Paperwork in Soul Society was agonizing, yet he still managed to get it all done in time. _Without a certain person's help_, he thought, glaring mentally at Matsumoto, who was laughing at something.

"Well, I'm off to the library, so have fun disgusting everyone in this Hall, Weasley."

"You're going to the library again? Did we get landed with another Hermione?" Ron shouted, stabbing his bacon.

Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Hitsugaya grimaced at the red head and made his way for the door. Harry had just stepped through, and accidentally brushed his shoulder. "Sorry, Potter." Hitsugaya muttered as he exited.

Standing frozen to the spot for a split second, Harry turned slowly, watching the head of white hair disappear around the corner.

"Was that just Hitsugaya?"

"Taicho, you'll kill your eyes if you keep coming here to read!"

_Perfect_, Hitsugaya groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What?"

"No need to be so hostile, taicho! Just stating a fact."

"This library is hardly empty, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya hissed, almost burying his face in the book. "When was the last time you went undercover on a mission?"

Pouting, Matsumoto folded her arms and marched out the door. "Don't blame me if you get bored!" She yelled behind her.

Cringing, Hitsugaya buried his face further into the book, trying to avoid the burning stares from the other students who were in the library.

Grumbling about how mean her taicho was, Matsumoto just managed to jump out of the way of someone who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, only to find out that she had nearly crashed into the elderly headmaster.

"Oh that's all right, Professor Matsumoto." Dumbledore smiled, "As a matter of fact, I've been looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Matsumoto repeated, nervously fingering her robes, wondering if this had anything to do with her horrific lessons.

"Yes, you see, yesterday Harry harbored some suspicions about Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"About… t-Mr. Hitsugaya… sir?"

"Yes, you see, Harry believes that Mr. Hitsugaya was the one who attacked the caretaker's cat."

"B-but, didn't he say that he was in the Great Hall at the time of the attack?" Matsumoto asked, on the verge of breaking into cold sweat. So that Potter boy suspected her taicho of Petrifying that cat? Based on what evidence? It was ridiculous!

"Yes, but Harry says that he was not with Ms. Granger when they happened to meet in the corridor, contrary to Mr. Hitsugaya's story."

"So… what has this got to do with me, headmaster?"

"I've noticed that you and Mr. Hitsugaya seem very… close, at least for him, after all, he does not seem to have befriended anyone other than Ms. Granger, and I do not really see them as the best of chums, don't you think?"

There was a pause as Matsumoto tried to think of an excuse to get her out of the situation. "Sir, I assure you that I am no closer to Mr. Hitsugaya than I am to any of the other students."

"Yet you entered Leaky Cauldron together, bought your wands together, went to the bookstore together, and on the train you were sitting with him. Am I to believe that they are all simply coincidences?"

"Yes," Matsumoto said stupidly. Then, "But how do you know that?"

"Oh, when I look into something, I am quite thorough, Professor. But perhaps you are right; maybe those incidents were all coincidences. Perhaps it is because he has just recently moved from a new country, and it is his racial differences that separate him. That is quite beside the point."

"So what is the point?"

"You see, I couldn't help notice some strange things about Mr. Hitsugaya-"

"Strange things?" Matsumoto interrupted,

"-and now that Harry's told me of his theory I've decided that Mr. Hitsugaya should be watched, at least to some extent, and seeing as you are the teacher closest to him, I shall give you the job." Dumbledore continued, as if he had never been broken off.

"Give me the job of watching t- Mr. Hitsugaya?" Matsumoto stuttered, cold sweat finally breaking out.

"Yes. Can you do that?"

Matsumoto swallowed. If she refused, would suspicions move from her taicho to her? And if she accepted, there was no question that she'd have to lie, but would she be able to do that without the old man discovering that she was indeed lying?

"B-but, what did you mean when you said… strange?"

Dumbledore smiled again, and Matsumoto was, for the hundredth time since she came to this school, reminded of a mix of both Yamamoto (his beard, obviously) and Ukitake for his kind smile. But, surprise surprise, she had actually done some work, and had found out that this man was one of the most feared wizards in this world. It was hard to believe that this kind, smiling man could hurt a fly, but appearances lie, she reminded herself.

"I'm sure you know that even here, where magic used, Mr. Hitsugaya's complexion is very unusual for a boy such as him. Sure, in the muggle world, the very idea of magic, which is the basis of our world, is absurd and incongruous, but yet again, I have digressed from the main subject."

Had Matsumoto been in any other situation, she would have chuckled at the fact that her taicho was just called a boy. Not today, unfortunately.

"So you want me to watch him just because he's got weird hair?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, actually, I have noticed things strange about our new student that extend behind the flesh. For example, you entered Ollivander's with him, did you not?"

"I said it was a coincidence, and I was just there because my cat ate my previous wand, and-"

She was cut off by a raised, wrinkled hand demanding quiet ("How does a hand demand quiet?" she muttered under her breath), and Dumbledore continued. "I am not referring to the fact that you may be closer to him than you claim. I was just asking, did something strange happen that day?"

Thinking back, Matsumoto remembered being suddenly flattened by her taicho's sudden reiatsu flare, which occurred the minute he touched that strange wand, that incident that still remained unexplained. Seeming to have read the answer in her eyes, Dumbledore went on.

"Mr. Ollivander mentioned that on that day there was about half a second where he felt as if he were being crushed by a massive weight that was suddenly gone as quickly as it had come. He also mentioned the sudden presence of something cold, like ice, and in that moment, he thought he saw two red eyes that disappeared when the pressure disappeared. You were in the shop that day, so did you feel something like that?"

Not knowing whether to tell the truth or to deny it, Matsumoto decided to change the subject as she had done countless times when Hitsugaya accused her of being lazy or messing around.

"H-he felt all that in half a second?" she chuckled weakly, now avoiding the old man's eye.

"It seems I am not the only one who suffers from digression." Another smile. "Mr. Ollivander described you as: 'panting and pale."

"Your point?"

"I do not believe Mr. Hitsugaya cast a spell, as far as I know, there is no such spell that exists, and as Ollivander recounts, you were standing behind him while he was standing in front, meaning that Mr. Hitsugaya would have to first cast a spell in silence, a skill, as I'm sure you know, beyond the skills of a second year, and turn around and do the same to you for both of you to be affected in such a short amount of time. Ollivander also states that he dropped his wand at that time."

"Mr. Ollivander must be a very observant man."

"He is, isn't he?" More smiling. Seriously, if there were a contest for smiling, he would definitely win the gold trophy. "Anyway, I believe that, in that moment, you and Ollivander were able to catch a glimpse of Mr. Hitsugaya's soul. And from that conclusion, I am ready to bet that Mr. Hitsugaya is not who he claims to be."

Blink blink. "And who _does _he claim to be?" Matsumoto asked, feigning ignorance.

"When Toshiro first applied to this school, his application claimed that he just moved to this country from Japan, and that he has displayed magical powers. It also claims that he was born 1986, making him 12 years old this year."

"And what makes you think otherwise?"

"Despite the fact that he has spent most of his life in a foreign country, he speaks English very well, much better, I must say, than some of the other students here."

"What if he's just good with languages? If I am not mistaken, you yourself speak ten languages yourself, sir." Of course, she had made this up, but her instinct told her that the old man would be a top-notch linguist.

"Over a hundred, actually," Dumbledore corrected, smiling kindly as Matsumoto looked taken aback. Even _she _didn't speak so many languages, but then again, not like she really studied all that hard. * A moment passed, then Dumbledore's smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of solemnness, and announced,

"I believe that another soul resides within Toshiro, and it managed to show itself in that moment at the wand shop."

Matsumoto's heart skipped a beat. _How did he know? Did someone tell him that, or did he just figure that out by himself? Damn it. What do I tell him?_

"Uh… another soul?"

"As absurd as it sounds, it seems to be the most rational conclusion I have been able to reach."

Blink. _Didn't he just contradict himself?_ "I would be glad to hear your reasoning, sir."

"Well, for starters, Mr. Hitsugaya does not have yellow eyes."

"You cannot know for sure that what Ollivander saw were eyes, and I don't see how that pertains to the matter at hand-" (As you can see, she was trying very hard to use very big words so that she'd actually sound like an adult).

"Oh, Mr. Ollivander assures me that what he saw were indeed eyes, seeing as they were on the face of a face made of ice."

"So… you're saying that a chunk of ice lives inside Hitsugaya? With… yellow eyes? And a face?" Matsumoto asked, trying to make it sound as stupid as possible

"No, I'm saying that something very cold and _like _ice resides alongside his soul. I'm sure you've noticed how the boy comes off to a lot of people as cold, and I'm starting to think that perhaps that statement is more literal that most think."

"But for such a thing to be impossible, for his body to contain two souls…"

There was a pause. Then Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid I do not feel comfortable revealing too much information at the present moment, even if I do trust you completely, Professor."

"So… you can't tell me how you think Hitsugaya can have two souls in his body because you don't want to tell me or because you don't know?"

"Oh, I do have a theory, but I have not been able to gather enough evidence to prove it enough to share it yet, so I'm afraid for the time being I shall keep my reasons to myself. But that brings us back to the original matter." He eyed her, and the Ukitake part of him vanished and suddenly Matsumoto found herself looking straight at Yamamoto, at least, someone who looked incredibly like him anyway. Old men with long white beards usually all looked the same.

"So, can you help me watch Toshiro, Professor Matsumoto?"

There was a long pause, then Matsumoto said, almost squeaking,

"Yes, I can."

"Very well." Dumbledore smiled again, and sighed. "Well, I have missed lunch, so I might as well go off to the kitchens quickly and see if I can grab a quick bite."

"Y-you do that."

Hitsugaya had already committed the entire castle's many corridors and stairs into his memory but apparently he still needed to be guided to each and every class, according to Hermione, who was now pulling him to Transfiguration despite his many protests.

"I can walk, you know," he grumbled as they descended down a staircase.

"But surely you must need help getting around the place! You haven't even been here a week!"

"I do not need to be dragged across the whole school, thank you very much!" he shouted, freeing himself from her grasp. Hermione looked as if she wanted to grab his hand again and help him walk like a little toddler, but apparently thought better of it and changed the subject.

"So… how're you settling into Hogwarts?"

Making sure she didn't try to help him walk again, Hitsugaya considered the question for a while. He could say that he hated the place, hated having to deal with immature little kids not giving him enough respect, having to deal with the annoying buzzing of magic at the back of his head and the case about the Petrified cat, and having Matsumoto nagging all the time about how lonely she was. But then obviously she'd break into a tantrum about something completely random and make sure that everyone shook his hand or something. There was no point in complaining to her, evidently. So he plastered his face with the widest smile he could manage (it wasn't pretty) and grimaced, "Great. Just great."

Hermione didn't seem to pick up that the smile was fake, because she too broke into a smile and thumped him on the back encouragingly. "Well, that's great! Glad to see that you're making some friends!"

Hitsugaya did not remember mentioning friends, in any case, his back was starting to hurt, so he cleared his throat and reminded Hermione that they were supposed to be heading to Transfiguration. Hermione seemed to come to her senses and nodded, dragging him along again. Hitsugaya couldn't help but notice that she looked strange, like she was preoccupied with something.

Well, he found out what soon enough. After awing the class with a transformation into a cat, Professor McGonagall then proceeded to starting her lesson when she was interrupted by Hermione.

"Professor McGonagall, I was wondering if you could tell us about… the Chamber of Secrets."

McGonagall stiffened, and Hitsugaya knew immediately that Hermione had touched on a subject that was not talked about often. After a moment, McGonagall took a deep breath and muttered, "Very well." She then continued to tell a tale in a voice that was quite unlike her normal stern voice, but with a voice that was laced with fear.

"You all know of course, that Hogwarts was founded many years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. For a while, the four founders existed harmoniously, but after some time, one of them began to argue."

"Three guesses who," Ron whispered a few seats from Hitsugaya, sniggering slightly. Harry grinned slightly, but they both shut up once McGonagall started glaring at them. Hitsugaya wondered briefly what exactly was so funny when McGonagall spoke again.

"Salazar Slytherin believed in the… 'purity of blood', and that those who, in Slytherin's view, were not worthy of learning magic, should not be accepted into the school. In other words, muggle borns."

"Unable to sway the others, Slytherin left the school. But, legend has it that before he left, he sealed a Chamber that was located within the school, and which housed a creature of Slytherin's, and which, according to the legend, awakens when Slytherin's heir returns to Hogwarts to carry justice upon those who Slytherin had seen unworthy of knowing the secrets of magic." Readjusting her glasses, she coughed and continued in her ordinary firm voice, "Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such Chamber has been found." With a note of finality in her voice, she turned and said, "Well then, turn to page fifty-six…" Pages rustled as they were turned and people whispered to each other in hushed voices, but Hermione's hand was in the air again.

"Professor, what does the legend tell us lives in the Chamber?"

McGonagall froze, quite positively shaking now. Turning slowly, she announced in a small voice, "The legend says that in the Chamber…" A moment of dramatic silence, "lives a monster."

_Oh great. This job just gets easier and easier._

***Also made up. I have no idea exactly how many languages Dumbledore speaks. Maybe I'm mixing him up with Barty Crouch. Hmm… *****taps chin thoughtfully**** * Solemnness is apparently a word as well, it came up in the dictionary, but the stupid dictionary on Word says that it doesn't exist so I have to keep rechecking to see if I got the spelling right. :P (If that looked like an evil grin it's not supposed to be)**

**Is the Matsumoto spying for Dumbledore part too weird? It just kinda popped into my head and I decided to write it in seeing as it seemed interesting but I'm wondering now if it'll just complicate things a bit too much. Anyway, if anyone's got anything to say about the subject, please feel free to… **

**Thank you to all those who have reviewed, and please review this chapter, as usual, it'd be much appreciated. **

**FallenSnow12 (Candied Sweets)**

**Edit 3/09/10. This is taking forever =.=**


	9. Irony

**Okayyy, so here's the ninth chapter! I know I took a long time off, I had pretty much given up on this fanfic. Oh well… I'm back. Sorry everyone.**

**I actually wrote this for the eighth chapter, but decided it'd be too long if I put it in so I divided it up. If you're wondering: so why did it take a long time to update, I don't actually know. I've become rather absentminded recently.**

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* * *

**Hitsugaya sighed as he entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, wondering if Matsumoto had actually listened to him or if she was just going to teach something completely useless again. Thankfully, Momo the cat didn't attack him when he cautiously poked his head through the door, so his temper didn't rise dangerously again like last time. In fact, Matsumoto's reiatsu seemed pretty far away. In the library, actually. Was the crazy woman actually reading? That was a surprise.

Unfortunately, Malfoy was already sitting at his desk when he arrived, with his 'friends' (cronies, more like) sitting next to him. "Look, it's the old man," he sneered, "Killed any cats lately, oldie?" The two fat boys approached, knuckles cracking. Hitsugaya didn't even flinch; those two were about as intimidating as Hinamori with a watermelon. Heck, even Yachiru was scarier than them.

"I had nothing to do with yesterday's incident." Hitsugaya muttered, not looking at him, and ignoring the two fat boys who were desperately cracking their knuckles in an attempt to get him to show some emotion. One actually tried punching him, but of course, he missed and ended up much worse than before.

Malfoy opened his mouth to reply with something 'undoubtedly witty' when the door opened to reveal Neville, who initially seemed thrilled that he was actually early for once. Then his face fell when he saw that the Slytherin boy and the white haired boy with his piercing teal eyes were the only ones there.

"Longbottom, what a surprise. Decided to show up early, have you?" Malfoy had obviously decided that it would be more fun to tease Neville than Hitsugaya, seeing as every single comment he made bounced off him (except for anything about being short, little, tiny, or anything along those lines, but then Malfoy hadn't said anything about that yet).

Neville made an unintelligible sound that sounded like blubbering and decided to hurry to his seat before the two knuckle-cracking fatties came his way.

"H-hi Toshiro," he stuttered, tripping slightly. "Did you finish the homework?"

Truthfully, while he had finished the second piece of homework, having read it all before they came to Hogwarts, he had only written four and a half pages for the essay and only had one paper crane, but he had found the spell for increasing the numbers of something and wanted to try it in class. It wasn't like he was about to squeeze one thousand paper cranes into his bag, and especially not for Matsumoto.

Not waiting for an answer, Neville continued hesitantly, "I haven't finished reading the textbook, and there wasn't anything in the library about the legs and I don't know how to fold origami…"

"Don't worry," Hitsugaya muttered, trying to remember the words for the spell. "I'm sure _Professor _Matsumoto will forget all about it when she comes in." Finally remembering the strange words, Hitsugaya tapped the origami crane and muttered "Gemino."

Neville's eyes widened as another crane appeared next to the original. Smiling with a sense of satisfaction, he repeated the spell until the desk and floor around him were overflowing with the paper birds. Okay, so it was lazier doing this, but at least it saved paper and he didn't have to waste time doing something completely useless.

Hyourinmaru's deep growl echoed through his head. _Matsumoto's having a bad influence on you. You're wriggling out of work with excuses. _

Hitsugaya grimaced. _It's not like I'm going to waste time folding all that useless origami when I should be investigating this place._

Hyourinmaru snorted but accepted his reasoning. Pulling himself out of his head, he turned to the mess on the floor and started shoveling them all back on his desk.

"Wow… I thought you skipped the first year…" Neville muttered, his jaw hanging open.

"Er… well I managed to do some… reading… on it…"

"Reading is different from actually doing it though!" Neville exclaimed, hesitantly pulling out his own wand. "What was the spell?"

The result was an explosion of sparks that singed some of Hitsugaya's hair ("So much for good luck" he grumbled). Coughing slightly, Neville gave up and decided to finish reading the textbook instead, muttering about how it was so much easier. Sighing in exasperation, he dug through his bag and pulled out a book he had borrowed from the library on ghosts. After several minutes he concluded the author had been drunk and mind wiped when he wrote the book, and his mind wandered from the messy script to McGonagall's words. The Chamber of Secrets. An ominous name, but that was not the problem. If they really were dealing with a magical monster, they had no idea what its powers and capabilities were, what it looked like, or how to kill it. But they'd have to find a way, if it really was the thing that attacked the cat, there was no telling if it would harm any of the students. Even if he didn't like them, they all had souls that needed protecting, and lives were more important than anything personal. The door opened and Harry and his friends entered.

There was a pause as Harry glared at Hitsugaya, who wasn't even looking at him due to the fact that he was still staring at the book, pondering on the issue of the Chamber of Secrets. His eyes then slid to the slightly burned but still intact paper cranes that were all spilling over the desk and on the floor despite all of Hitsugaya's efforts. Ron, who was standing behind Harry, coughed in surprise at the sights, causing Hitsugaya to look up.

"Did you fold all that?"

Neville shook his head, "No, Toshiro did this spell thing that made all these duplicates, but… er… when I tried…"

"Something blew up?" Ron guessed, raising an eyebrow.

Neville opened his mouth to retort when Hermione popped up behind the two boys.

"Did you use the Gemino spell, Toshiro? That's really advanced, and even more so seeing as you skipped the last year."

Looking mildly surprised, he asked, "Is it?

"Yes, it is! Not that I have any trouble doing it though." she finished, looking rather vexed at Ron, who was smiling a smile similar to Matsumoto's when someone figured out something that he didn't or if something could do something he couldn't. Then all glances turned to Harry, who looked, strangely enough, triumphant.

"Have you just achieved something, Potter?" Hitsugaya inquired, looking skeptically at the almost happy boy.

Before Harry could answer, he was pulled away by Hermione, who whispered loudly (although Hitsugaya's imagined she thought she was quiet),

"Harry, when I say that it's advanced, I mean that it's hard, but not impossibly hard, it's probably only a third year spell, and-"

"I can hear you, you know." Hitsugaya interrupted, now looking less skeptical and more exasperated. Perhaps Potter simply felt jealous that a new student was able to perform a spell that he couldn't (not that Hitsugaya felt like bragging, after all, magic was quite similar to Kidou), but then again, he didn't seem like the type to freak out about test scores. But it seemed to have been much more private than that, seeing as Hermione squealed rather loudly and dropped all her books. Red faced, she hastily picked them up and walked away from the doorway, settling in a seat next to Hitsugaya. Still looking mortified, she nervously changed the subject.

"P-Professor Matsumoto sure is late today, isn't she? Class has already started for fifteen minutes."

"But considering that fiasco last lesson, maybe she's just hiding from us." Ron muttered, fingering one of the cranes. "But I'm pretty sure I saw her at the library. She was talking to Dumbledore, actually."

"You went to the library?" Hermione asked skeptically. "You, Ronald, went to the library?"

"What, am I too dumb to go to the library?"

"I never said that, it's just that-"

"Well you didn't _say _it, but you _implied _it, which is the same as saying it really."

"I was not implying anything at all, I was merely expressing my surprise and happiness that you would actually take time out to study."

"Because you think I am too stupid to read!"

"That is not what I meant at all…"

Their bickers continued and Hitsugaya groaned, trying to block out their annoying voices. He was actually more concerned about what Ron had said before he started fighting with Hermione. Matsumoto was talking to Dumbledore? What did the old man want with her? Perhaps it was due to her stupid teaching, but from what he heard most teachers weren't all the good anyway; the DADA teacher last year had ironically joined forces with the renowned Voldemort and the headmaster had just let him carry the guy around on the back of his head right under his nose. In mid thought, he was distracted by the door opening, revealing Matsumoto, sweating and out of breath.

"Professor Matsumoto!" Hermione and Ron shouted in unison, their argument finally stopping. "Y-you're late!"

"Oh yeah… sorry about that," she panted, collapsing in her chair. "I had some… matters to take care of."

"Like getting drunk?" Malfoy sniggered, his laugh followed by the rest of Slytherin.

"Detention for you, Mr. er… well… blond person!" she shouted, looking happy to finally be able to say something like that. "And… er… ten points from Slytherin. Wait, no… make that fifty. Nah… I think one hundred suits your punishment better." She grinned ear to ear as the Slytherin's stared at her, shocked into silence, and the Gryffindors did the same, jaws hanging open. Except for Hitsugaya, who smacked is forehead in annoyance.

"Y-you… you stupid woman!" Malfoy yelled, obviously upset at having lost one hundred and sixty points in about two seconds. "How dare you! My father will hear about this!"

Matsumoto just laughed evilly and picked up the role book, calling out the names, trying her best to pronounce them right this time. However, when she reached Hitsugaya's name, she called out,

"Hitsga Toro."

Hitsugaya didn't even have time to scowl at the mention of tuna before she rushed onto the next name. Looking slightly baffled, he wondered if this was just another trick of hers that she thought was funny. But usually, if she tried teasing him she would look at his face to see his 'priceless expression'. She wasn't even moving her eyes away from the register.

"And… has everyone done their homework?"

There was an outbreak of groaning and protests. Hermione's hand shot in the air and she announced, "Professor, I've done my homework!"

Matsumoto smiled sweetly, causing Ron, who was sitting next to Hermione, to turn red and look away. "Good, Ms. Granger. Now, I'll have all your cranes…" It seemed she had forgotten about everything else. Che. Typical.

"Toshiro's done his homework as well." Neville piped up, pointing to Hitsugaya's desk, still overflowing with bits of paper. However, Matsumoto seemed to ignore him. As a matter of fact, she wasn't even looking at Hitsugaya, instead hurriedly looking at the next person whenever her eyes wandered around the room and landed at his desk. Something was wrong.

"Okay… so now… I'll be teaching you…" she flipped quickly through the book, her eyes straining on the tiny words scrawled on the parchment. "Patronuses"

Again, Hermione's hand was in the air.

"Professor, that's a seventh year book."

Blinking in surprise, Matsumoto checked the cover to find that Hermione was quite right. "Oh, sorry then, wait a second," Fumbling for another book, she flipped it open and coughed slightly before declaring that they would be learning about Hambledon Quince, author of the controversial theory that wizards originated from Mars and Muggles from mushrooms. After a fit of laughter from Malfoy, she discovered it had nothing to do with the subject and grabbed yet another book. Finally finding a chapter on vampires, she started babbling about bats and the sun and some guy called Lorcan d'Eath*. In the end, she managed to squeeze a bit about zanpaktous in, but everyone except Hermione was all fast asleep to hear her, and Hermione seemed to have heard something else, and scribbled down something that looked like Zaku Pants. And during this whole time, she had neither looked, walked near, called on, nor talked to Hitsugaya. And finally the lesson ended, with Matsumoto setting tons of homework not related to the subject as usual, and dismissed the class. Hitsugaya was about to walk out when he heard Matsumoto shout out:

"Mr. Hitsugaya. Detention. Now."

Feeling rather annoyed, he turned and glared at her. "Why?"

"Were you paying attention in class?"

"Yes."

"You weren't paying attention!" Matsumoto almost squealed, sounding rather hysterical, and Hitsugaya realized that this was no joke, but that she actually wanted to speak to him. He told Ron and Hermione, who were looking rather worried that he'd catch them later and went up to her.

"What?"

She was jumping from foot to foot, looking very anxious. "Well…"

He waited.

"…"

It took all his effort and experience with Matsumoto's ranting to understand what she was saying, and even then it was hard to tell the words apart. She kept talking, unaware that her captain was getting rather annoyed at how hard it was to comprehend anything she was saying until he shouted at her, the volume overtaking the fact that he was much shorter. Matsumoto took a deep breath and said slowly,

"The headmaster says that there is something strange about you and has asked me to spy on you and report to him if there is anything… funny about you."

Cursing under his breath, Hitsugaya paced around the room. "Shit. How'd he find out?"

"The wandmaker. He contacted Dumbledore and recounted the incident with Hyourinmaru."

Running a hand through his hair, Hitsugaya asked,

"How much has he guessed?"

"Little bits and pieces. He said the Potter boy thought you were the one who attacked the caretaker's cat, and the wandmaker blabbed about that time in his shop. I think for a split second, he saw Hyourinmaru. Dumbledore's managed to guess about his** existence, to some extent."

"Potter suspected me?" Hitsugaya asked sharply, "Did Dumbledore say why?"

Matsumoto thought back to Dumbledore's long line of suspicions. "No. I don't think so."

Hitsugaya thought for a little while, then remembered. Potter had passed out the other day, and while the nurse had associated it to lack of food and rest, one of his suspicions was feeling an overload of reiatsu, but the theory had been abandoned due to the little probability of that actually being the case. At any rate, Potter's reiatsu had been growing lately, and it was probably time to rethink the reason for his strange behavior.

"Potter probably thinks his passing out the other day was caused by me. Which it most likely was." Hitsugaya mused.

"Good thing we're blocking our reiatsu output then." Matsumoto said.

"The wandmaker saw Hyourinmaru?" Hitsugaya plowed on, wary of how much the headmaster knew.

"I think so. Dumbledore said he saw something with red eyes, and I dunno… he described it as a chunk of ice."

Hyourinmaru growled at the indignity of being called a chunk of ice. _It's like saying you're a walking hunk of flesh with white string stuck to the end of your head._ Hitsugaya ignored him. "Well, obviously you're going to have to lie. The problem is how to do so without Dumbledore suspecting you. The old man's pretty smart, no doubt he's got a more reliable way of checking up on me, yet he's using you. Killing two birds with one stone."

"Which means that you'll have to be a good boy from now on and not go sneaking around the school at night."

Hitsugaya sighed. Oh, the irony. He had been so careful of Matsumoto not screwing up that he himself did the exact thing that he had been trying to avoid. How could he be considered a prodigy if he could not even stay undercover properly?

"It's not just me, but you too. Remember that Dumbledore is probably inspecting the both of us."

Matsumoto nodded. "Oh right, about the cat... it seems the rest of the teachers are very tense about what happened… especially about the writing on the wall."

"I've heard about a legendary Chamber build by one of the schools founders." Hitsugaya recounted the story McGonagall had told them. "If there really is a monster living in the so called Chamber then we may have some problems. We don't know what the creatures in this world are like."

"But why attack a cat when it's hunting Muggle borns down?" Matsumoto asked,

"Perhaps it was a mistake, and the cat just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. But quite a few students are Muggle borns, which means that a lot of souls are at stake here."

Matsumoto shivered. "Haineko is a cat… will the thing attack me to get to Haineko?"

Hitsugaya sighed. "If you can handle hollows and Arrancar but can't handle one monster what use are you to Soul Society, apart from draining all the supplies of sake?"

"Hey, that was mean, taicho!"

"Just stating a fact."

Matsumoto pouted. "Well, you better run along now, taicho. It's getting dark… you wouldn't want to be attacked by the evil monster under your bed, now would you?"

After shouting at her for five minutes Hitsugaya left the room. Momo jumped into Matsumoto's arms, evidently frightened by the screaming fit.

"It's okay Momo, I won't let mean taicho scare you." Stroking its fur, she began counting her newly attained cranes.

---

_Harry walked down the flooded hallway, his footsteps reverberating across the walls. He saw the reflection of Mrs. Norris, hanging from the candlestick. The bloody words shimmered in the dim light. _

_He felt his chest tighten as he walked further down. His cloak was getting soaked and he was shivering. Strange, why was it getting colder? His breath appeared in front of him in white swirls. _

_At the end of the corridor was a chair. A tuft of white hair was barely visible over it. Harry stopped, breathing heavily. Was it because of the cold, or because his lungs felt oddly constricted? Water dripped from the ceiling and landed on the wet floor, the sound echoing in Harry's ears. He pulled out his wand as the chair slowly spun around. Harry gasped. It was Hitsugaya, his pale hands locked together, his teal eyes piercing Harry's own green ones. He smiled. _

"_I've been expecting you."_

Harry practically flew out of his bed, screaming. The rest of the room was startled awake.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Still shaking, he looked around. Ron was staring at him, a worried look on his face. _It was just a dream. Just a dream. _

"J-Just a nightmare." Ron sighed and pulled the covers over his head. Harry was about to do the same when he noticed that Hitsugaya's bed was empty.

"Has anyone seen Toshiro?"

"He was downstairs writing something in Japanese." Neville piped up. "But it's been a while, last I saw him was at least…" he checked his watch "six hours ago."

Harry sighed and kicked the covers away. "I'm going for a walk."

"Where to?" Ron asked under the blankets.

"Just… somewhere."

He put on his cloak and went down the stairs. The fire was still roaring, but it seemed colder than usual. Harry spotted a long scroll filled with unreadable Japanese characters. Even though he could not read it, but he was amazed at how neat they were; in his experience male handwriting was utterly illegible. He seemed to have used a paintbrush- several of them lay next to a pot of ink. Hitsugaya was sleeping on the couch next to the table, which happened to be the furthest from the fire. His hair was slightly ruffled; it seemed he had been running his hands through it. For a moment, Harry thought he looked just like everyone else, sleeping peacefully, then he remembered how much he hated him. But still… could he have been wrong?

The small boy stirred, and Harry noticed that he actually wasn't in peace. He was sweating profusely, and looked paler than usual. His eyes were squeezed tight together, and it looked like his was biting his lip as if in pain. The hand that wasn't supporting his head was clenched into a fist, and had become quite white. This was the first time Harry had seen him like this, and it disturbed him. What was he dreaming about?

Then he opened his mouth. "Can I help you, Potter?"

Harry jumped. His eyes had opened, and they were staring at him. It was scary how the guy could sense him when he didn't even make a sound.

"Um… I think I left something down here."

"Something?"

"Er… yeah… a Charms essay." Harry stammered, hoping he wouldn't attack him or something. His hand was already on his wand.

"I did not see one down here. You may have left it in your bag."

"Oh… really?" It was Harry's time to sweat. "Okay then… thanks." He turned to go back upstairs. "Aren't you going up to sleep?"

"I find it far too hot in that dormitory."

"Isn't it warmer in here?" Harry asked.

"If I were to open the windows in the room the rest of you would be quite cold."

Harry was confused. _He's being considerate?_ He almost shivered at the thought. "Then… who are you writing to?"

"My parents." Hitsugaya lied, rolling the scroll up. "They are quite worried about my well-being."

Harry tried to imagine the parents of this strange white-haired boy. Somehow he couldn't think of anyone. Wait a second, wasn't he a grown wizard in disguise? Was he writing to Voldemort? He frowned, somehow he couldn't imagine Voldemort reading Japanese. "So… your parents are in Japan?"

"Yes."

"Aren't there any wizarding schools in Japan?"

"Well… there are, but my parents wanted me to learn at a better school, and in their opinion Hogwarts is the best school on this planet to learn magic." It almost killed him to say that; this school sucked so much that had it not been for his maturity and loyalty to his mission he would have packed his bags and returned to Seiretei. Anywhere was better than this hell-hole.

"Is that right?" His suspicion towards Hitsugaya was evaporating against his will, he could kill him right then and there yet he did not, and it seemed more and more apparent that he was not an evil Voldemort-follower. But then again, he could just be an experienced liar.

"Well… goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Harry left, their conversation still ringing in his head.

* * *

***From J.K Rowling's official website :D I feel like a nerd. **

**** Confused about Hyourinmaru's gender. Oh well.**

**I wasn't really bothered to write Matsumoto's lesson, so sorry to those who have been looking forward to another demonstration of her klutzyness. I'll try to write it in some other time though. However, I'm aware that she is going slightly out of character and being a bit **_**too **_**dumb… have to change that…**

**Oh my god this chapter was an absolute fail… I've completely forgotten my entire plan TT^TT… it's so sad… Not to mention that I have encountered a HUGE writer's block (as you can probably tell from the long space between updates). Oh well… I'll try to update as soon as I can with a hopefully better written chapter. **

**Thank you to all those who reviewed, they were the only things that kept me tethered to writing this. Seriously, thank you all of you :D **

**FallenSnow**


	10. Bittersweet Peaches

**I am so sorry it took forever for me to update, I was stuck and **_**really **_**busy. This chapter isn't very good… actually it's crap, but it's the best I could do at the moment. If any of you can recall, I seem to have forgotten my story and it's taking a while to remember =.=**

**I FINALLY ADDED THE QUIDDITCH THING! *****cries in relief * It took such a long time, but it's there now. Er… I think it should be in Chapter 7 :]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach**

Morning. The most beautiful time of the day in the castle, mostly because it was quiet and peaceful, before the constant bickering of annoying students. Having spent an entire night being baked next to a blazing fire Toshiro had almost flown out of the common room the moment the sunlight hit the window. While it was still quite warm during this time of year it was better than being cooked alive.

Hermione's voice cut through his thoughts. "I heard that you slept in the common room last night." She had insisted that he take a walk around the castle to familiarize himself with the place, not that he hadn't already gone through the whole place at least ten times. Nevertheless, he agreed. Anything to get away from the heat of the indoors.

"I seem to have dozed off in the warmth of the fire." Toshiro lied through clenched teeth. Hermione didn't seem to notice because she beamed.

"That's good! I thought you didn't like the heat or something, or maybe you were having a hard time adjusting, but that you could sleep next to the fire is an improvement! I thought you were sick or something."

Toshiro grunted. It wasn't like he had slept well or anything last night, having woken up after only two hours of sleep. And his dreams didn't help at all, he had had that dream again, the one with Hinamori-Aizen, except this time his childhood fried had transformed even more, her body morphing into a body similar to that of a snake, and then he had been stabbed yet again multiple times, each time having to stare at the blood-splattered, cold and cruel face of the sweet girl that he had grown up with…

"Toshiro."

He turned, pulled back out of his thoughts. Hermione was looking at him, a concerned look on her face.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…"

"You miss Japan?"

_Hell, yeah. _"Just a little bit."

"Well, you've seemed very… withdrawn lately…"

"Have I?"

"Well yeah, you're always spacing out and stuff... and you know… staying silent."

While Toshiro tried to remember exactly when he had become very talkative, another familiar voice called out from the other side of the courtyard.

"Ms. Granger! Mr. Hitsugaya! Good morning!"

It was Matsumoto, waving near one of the pillars holding the corridor ceiling up. From the looks of it, she had drunk sake or some other alcoholic beverage because her cheeks were a little red.

"Professor Matsumoto! Good morning!"

"Out for a walk?"

"Yup, I wanted to get Toshiro familiar with the castle so he wouldn't get lost."

"Not like I do get lost." Hitsugaya grunted indignantly. "Why are you out here, Professor?"

Matsumoto was positively beaming at the mention of her captain calling his subordinate something more respectful, which annoyed said captain, but she replied,

"Oh, I wanted to take a walk as well, you know, enjoy the autumn breeze before the winter comes. Although I'm pretty sure _someone _will be quite happy once the _freezing, bitter and chilly _winter comes along."

"Yes, I've noticed Toshiro seems to quite like the cold." Hermione mused. "How did you know that, professor?"

"Lucky guess." Matsumoto answered, grinning. "But you know, staying in the cold is bad for your health, Shiro-kun!"

A vein pulsed in his forehead as 'lil whitey' resisted the urge to shout at her. Instead he resorted to glare at her; while he was not aware of it, his glares were reputed to kill. Matsumoto immediately backed away.

"Oh right, are you from Japan as well, Professor?"

"Yup!" Matsumoto grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. "I'm from Tokyo, where shopping malls are abundant!" Toshiro sighed. Typical Matsumoto.

"Are you from Tokyo too, Toshiro?"

"Sapporo" he answered. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. He could vaguely remember running through the thick winter snow of Sapporo as a boy, a living boy, holding his mother's hand… It was so may years ago though, and the details were blurry.

"Well, that explains why you like the cold so much… Hokkaido is a snow country, right?"

"Ms. Granger knows her Japanese geography!" Matsumoto beamed. Seizing the opportunity to show off her knowledge, Hermione began to recount all the facts on Japan that she had undoubtedly read from some book or something, and the two ladies began chatting animatedly. Toshiro was left to his own thoughts, which wandered to Hinamori. How was she doing in the recovery room? She had looked so weak, so pale, like she wasn't going to make it. _No, don't think that. She's going to be fine_. But he had spent the past decades living with death, and he knew that it was merciless. They called themselves gods of the dead, but no mortal being could ever fully compare to the force that had taken so many on their way…

"Well, I must get back to the office now." Matsumoto said airily after a while. "Oh, and Toshiro, about that peach tree you sent me, don't worry, it's still alive and thriving." Then she left.

"You gave Professor Matsumoto a peach tree?"

"For the homework," he said, smiling despite himself.

"For the homework? But… I never heard of that…"

"It was an extension."

"Extension?" Hermione squealed. "Then, that means I have to give her peaches as well! Why didn't you tell me?" She grabbed his arm and dragged him along, ignoring his protests. Yes, it was just another ordinary day at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Hello Toshiro." It was Luna, appearing soundlessly to human ears and talking in her usual airy voice. However, what was soundless to a normal ear was elephant stomping to Hitsugaya's. "Is it potatoes today? I quite like them."

Hitsugaya nodded absentmindedly. He could swear the heavy English foods were making him fat, which was why he was laying off the steaming cuisine that had appeared on the golden plates. This had been a subject of concern to both Hermione and Ron, but he just said it was just a matter of getting used to the food. It wasn't a total lie, anyway.

"You should know, Harry Potter is quite suspicious of you."

"I know."

"Yes, Professor Matsumoto told you, didn't she?"

For some reason Toshiro was not the least surprised that she knew about this piece of information. "I'm sure that whatever he suspects me of doing, I am innocent of it."

"Yes, I'm sure you are. But there are definitely dark spots in your life that are being hidden from the rest of us."

"Everyone has their secrets. I think I am entitled to have mine."

"Yes, I think so too, but it seems that some people here disagree." Luna started humming a tune. "I heard that you got into the Quidditch team. Congratulations."

"My position as Chaser is not secure, it all depends on whether or not I want to play, and I am simply substituting for another player. Once she gets better I will have to step off."

"But I can tell you like flying. You're always looking at the sky."

Well, it was true. He sometimes marveled at Luna's being so observant.

"Good job everyone! We are definitely gonna win this one! Remember, our next training session is Friday morning, on the pitch at three." Wood grinned, ignoring the groans from his exhausted team. It was past seven and the setting sun meant everyone had to hurry before Filch came and put them all in detention. The team quickly got changed and hurried to the common room, with he exception of ever-strange Toshiro Hitsugaya, who went the opposite way.

"Toshiro! Where're you going?" Harry ran up to him, prodding him to get his attention. It wasn't like he cared or anything (or so he told himself) but if he got caught the rest of the team would probably get in trouble as well.

"You needn't worry about me, I'll be back in the common room in time."

"Look at the time, the sun's setting and we've probably got about half an hour to get back."

"Half an hour is plenty for me."

"What're doing anyway?"

"There's something I want to check out."

"Something…?"

"Yes" Harry waited for him to continue, but the small boy did not elaborate. Harry sighed. "Just don't get caught."

"Don't worry. I'm not doing anything illegal."

"Are you sure?"

Hitsugaya's mouth turned upwards in what was his closest imitation of a smile, and nodded. "I can take care of myself, Potter, don't worry. You don't want to be late for the curfew, do you?"

Harry sighed. "Just don't blame me if you do get caught."

"I have no intention of doing so."

"Fine then, see you in the common room."

Hitsugaya nodded, and without further ado disappeared into the darkness of the corridor. Harry shook his head, maybe he wasn't working for Voldemort after all. He was probably a suicide bomber, the bomb being Filch and his 'ingenious' ways of putting people in detention. Yeah. That sounded more likely.

The thing about constantly watching your back for any backstabbing knives for a hundred or so years is that after a while, you become paranoid and jumpy and aware of every detail around you: the spiders on the windowsill, the footsteps of the scuttling rats, the smell of the toilets reeking at the end of the hallway.

Not that that's a bad thing, and it certainly helped as Hitsugaya wandered down the hallway, tracking the presence he had felt back in the changing rooms. He could hear something moving in the walls… something big. And the reiatsu didn't feel right… as if it was… evil. But that was absurd. You couldn't tell if something was evil from its reiatsu, right?

_Kill… _

Not again. Whatever it was, its vocabulary was incredibly limited. So far he had only heard 'kill' and 'blood'. Geez, such a sadist. But then again, the last time he had heard the bodiless _kill_ a cat had been attacked, and their main concern was that a human would soon be attacked, and being a shinigami he kinda had his work laid out for him right there. Or maybe another cat would get attacked. Oh my gosh, how horrible. I totally care if another annoying cat gets frozen for a bit. At least it'll shut up. Obviously he didn't like cats

He continued to follow the noise for a while, almost bumping into Filch near the toilets where Mrs. Norris has been petrified. Fortunately he managed to whiz past him before he could even turn his head. He was about to get impatient and smash the wall open to see what the heck it was when he heard something else: footsteps, echoing at the end of the now silent corridor. Toshiro quickly stepped behind a statue of a phoenix just in time before a familiar looking silhouette passed by. Where had he seen this person before?

"Ginny Weasley?"

The person turned. He had guessed right. The firelight made Ginny's telltale red hair flare even more, to the point where it was blinding. It was like her entire head was glowing, which was a bit disturbing considering the sun had set a while ago and the only light now was from the flickering candles. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Toshiro's ghostly figure step out from behind the statue.

"T-Toshiro! What are you doing out so late?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that?"

Ginny tentatively pushed her hair out of her face. "I was... taking a walk."

"It's past dark, won't you get in trouble?"

"You will too if anyone catches you!"

Hitsugaya sighed. He turned to the fading sound of the large thing he had been following, then decided stalking it around the school wouldn't do much good, and now that the girl had appeared…

"Let's go back to the common room before Filch comes and sees us. I almost bumped into him at the toilets."

She paled and nodded. They started walking back to the dormitories.

"So… what were you doing out so late?"

Ginny looked a bit confused. "What?"

"Why were you out so late? Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble?"

She seemed dazed by the question and paused for a while, as if she didn't really know the answer.

"I-I don't actually know… I… I guess I just felt like taking a walk…"

Strange, it didn't feel like she was lying, it was as if she genuinely didn't know why she was walking around alone in the dark castle. She looked awful, perhaps it was just the increasingly cold weather, but she looked peaky and sick. Her brown eyes were unfocused as if she was in some sort of trance. Maybe she was just tired. It was, after all, very late.

"You don't know?"

"I… I guess I just dozed off… it's quite late anyway."

He nodded, it was strange but reasonable, he had been tired countless times before. They continued to walk until he heard more footsteps.

"Shh! I hear some-"

Too late. Matsumoto materialized behind Toshiro, obviously pleased at herself for having caught her captain. Hitsugaya could imagine her face was plastered with her widest smile yet.

"P-Professor Matsumoto!" Ginny squeaked, her face going paler. Obviously all the shock from today was a bit too much. "I-I'm very sorry, I was going back to the common room but I got lost and-" She was cut off by Matsumoto's amused laugh.

"Mr. Hitsugaya."

Toshiro turned, trying to keep a straight face without a vein pulsing somewhere. "Yes?"

"Mr. Filch told me that you're a bit of a troublemaker, and now that you've been caught out after dark…." She wagged her finger. "Tsk tsk, you're coming with me."

"What about me, Professor?"

Matsumoto was stuck for a moment. "I'll just let you off with a warning, Miss Weasley, but Mr. Hitsugaya here has been a very bad boy." She was finding it hard to contain herself.

He rolled his eyes, suppressing an exasperated sigh, and turned to Ginny. "Well, I'll see you in the common room if you're still there."

She looked worried but managed an "Okay" before getting the hell out of there.

"A crude method, Matsumoto. Next time when you want to talk to me try not to injure my pride." Now that he was being watched, this would probably be the best opportunity to talk to her without anyone getting suspicious.

"Mehh… taichooo, you have no idea how boring it is sitting in that stuffy office without sake all day with tons of work to mark and everything~ and the subject is sooo hard to learn, I have to learn all the spells and…"

"Has the headmaster asked you to do anything else for him?" Toshiro asked, cutting her rant short. Matsumoto's mouth was still hanging open, but she closed it quickly and shook her head. "However, he has asked me to report in tonight. In an hour, actually."

He ran his hand through his hair. This spying business was really pissing him off.

"Well, apart from tonight," he glared at Matsumoto, "I haven't done anything worth noticing… so that's all you'll tell Dumbledore."

"What were you doing tonight though?"

He sighed. "That creature that attacks the students? It's traveling in the walls, and it's _big_. It's huge. And the it's presence is so large that it seems unnatural... Plus it's been talking again. Unfortunately I can't follow it around in case someone catches me, but I doubt anyone would attempt to put _you _in detention."

"Eh, taicho, you want me to follow this thing?"

"Didn't you say you had nothing to do? If this thing is left to its own devices the entire student body would be in serious danger."

"But but but taichooo… Only you and Potter-san have ever heard the thing, how am I supposed to track it?"

"Matsumoto that's that lamest excuse you've come up with so far. What do you mean you can't hear it, have you been putting cotton buds in your ear the whole time?"

"I'm serious, taicho, I've never heard the thing traveling, let alone speak."

She looked serious, but she _was_ an experienced liar. But what if what she was saying was true? Yes, most of the students had half deaf, but Matsumoto could hear him walking to the office even when he had just entered the barracks (assuming she wasn't drunk)… if she couldn't hear it…. And Potter, how come he could hear it as well, while everyone else thought he was crazy?

It was questions over questions over questions. He wanted to eat a watermelon and take a nap. Being sleep-deprived like he was at the moment wasn't good for his health. Matsumoto noticed his fatigue, and said,

"Taicho, it's getting late, maybe you should go to sleep. After all, if you don't sleep you won't grow!"

He felt like smashing her face in but instead just scowled. "Good luck with Dumbledore."

"Oh please, after so many years with you taicho, that old man's gonna be a piece of cake."

"Just… be careful of him."

"Sure! Goodnight!"

"Hn."

Dumbledore was humming a rather screechy song that had been popular with the mermaids a few years ago and writing a letter to the Minister when he heard someone knock on his door. Putting down his quill, he got swiftly left his chair and opened the doors.

"Professor Matsumoto, I assume my message was delivered?"

"Yes sir, it was. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here, would I? May I come in?"

"Certainly" Dumbledore stepped aside to reveal his large office. Matsumoto took a moment to marvel at its size and various shiny instruments before following Dumbledore to his desk. He pulled the chair out for her and she sat.

"I'd like to believe that you came to see me not out of necessity but because you wanted to see me." Dumbledore said lightly as he sat back down. He looked at her and smiled. Matsumoto smiled back.

"So, Professor, how is our peculiar Toshiro doing?"

"He's a good student, hasn't been getting up to anything unusual. He's got quite a few friends, and they get along…" Total lie. Oh well.

"He's joined the Quidditch team, I hear."

"Yes sir, and he seems to be quite a good Chaser."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, and silence descended on them for a few moments. Then he asked "Anything else?"

Matsumoto shook her head, trying to keep her smile as wide as possible "That's it. Nothing strange or anything…"

Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you, Professor. Could you please continue watching Mr. Hitsugaya for me? These are dangerous times, even in this school."

Matsumoto bowed. "Yes, sir. I'll be going now."

She turned, grinning from ear to ear. Her taicho had better reward her with a big crate of sake when she got back. If he could find one.

The door closed behind her. Dumbledore had not moved from his seat, and the smile was still plastered on his face.

"The lady's lying" Phineas muttered, flicking dust off his nail. Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then chuckled.

"Oh, you never know, Phineas. You think everyone lies."

"True."

"_Hi Harry."_

_He turned. There he was again, Toshiro sitting on the spinning chair, except this time the chair kept spinning and spinning until the small boy was a blur._

"_What do you want?"_

"_Me? Oh, I don't want anything." He smiled. It was disconcerting. _

"_Why do you want to kill me?"_

"_Oh, was it that obvious? Very well, now that you know, I guess I'll have to tell you."_

_Harry wrapped his fingers around his wand as the chair slowed down until it had stopped completely. Toshiro was staring straight at him with his turquoise eyes._

"_I'm killing you… for PIES!"_

Harry shot out of bed, not really panting but more like cracking up. What the heck was with all those crazy dreams about Toshiro? Yes, he still suspected him and everything, but really, where did the pies come in?

As usual, everyone was fast asleep. Harry noticed that a sleeping Toshiro now occupied the usually empty bed at the end of the room. It had been a while since he had come in to sleep, on a bed at least, he usually either slept in the common room or next to an open window. He looked really tired, not even having bothered to change out of his robes. Harry wondered when he had come in, but at least he hadn't been caught by Filch.

_Wait what? You're concerned for him?_

That took him by surprise. It took him a while to come up with an answer.

_No, I just don't want his recklessness to cost Gryffindor any points_

_Sure, you just keep telling yourself that._

_I will, thank you very much._

Toshiro didn't seem to be sleeping well though. He was sweating again, moving around in his bed, and one time muttered something that he couldn't really hear very well, but he was pretty sure it was something like _'NOOOOO'_. Yes, that's very hard to hear.

Deciding he didn't want to go back to sleep, he got out of bed and paced around the room. Just then, a black butterfly flew through the partially open window, somehow managing to carry a scroll on its back. Harry watched in awe as it flew over next to Toshiro's bed and dropped it on the desk next to it. Then it disintegrated.

Baffled, Harry walked over and unrolled the scroll. More Japanese. Great.

He glanced over at Toshiro, who was still sleeping. He remembered vaguely in the back of his head that there was a spell that translated foreign languages into English. What was it again? He racked his brains. Oh yes.

"_Reddo_*"

Nothing happened for a moment, then the characters shifted and after a while turned into English.

Okay, yes it was kinda invading his privacy, but maybe he had just managed to intercept a message from Voldemort. You never know. Did Harry ever need a reason to trash someone's stuff?

_Hitsugaya-kun,_ it read, _I hope you're doing well. Abarai-kun told me that you've gone to the real world to check something out with… _Oh, how convenient, whoever this person was their name had been blotched out by water or something. That's nice, of all the places for it to fall. He continued reading._ Is the investigation going smoothly? _The ink was a bit blotchy in the next bit, so he skipped it and went onto the next line.

_You know, Shiro-chan, I'm all better now. Unohana-taicho said so herself. So you don't have to worry about me anymore. Um… _Another blotch. The writing on the next line looked shakier, and Harry wondered what the person had been doing while writing this. Crying, maybe?

_Shiro-chan… there's something I really need to tell you… but… well I tried calling but Abarai-kun told me wherever you are the stuff there is messing up your phones and stuff… but I… _At this point the writing was so shaky it was almost illegible, and Harry had to squint to figure out what it was. _Well, next time you get the chance, call me okay? Captain Commander doesn't want me to leave just yet… but Shiro-chan… you're the only person… I can really talk to about… this._

There was no name, just a little smiley face and a drawing of a peach at the bottom. Harry looked at Hitsugaya, who had become very agitated.

Who was this person? It was probably a girl, guys didn't really write like this, but as far as he knew there was no important girl in Toshiro's life. 'Abarai-kun', who was that? He said he had gone somewhere for to investigate something, obviously that somewhere was at Hogwarts. Did that mean he was right? Was Toshiro really working for Voldemort, and was this sent by some female subordinate of his? _I'm all better now_, wait, was Voldemort back? Last year he had still been a parasite living on people's flesh, had he somehow found another Philosopher's Stone or something? And who was the blotched out person who was working with him? He reread the short letter.

Harry sighed. It was too complicated for him to figure out right now, but he couldn't just give it back. Anyhow, he'd forgotten the spell to reverse the translation. It wouldn't hurt to take it, would it? After all, Toshiro didn't even know someone had sent him the letter… probably…

Harry dashed to the other side of the room and rolled the small piece of paper into a moldy sock in his trunk and closed it with a thump. Then he dove under the covers and tried his best to fall asleep.

The first thing Harry could think of when his alarm clock went off was the letter, rolled up in the smelly old sock. He didn't even care if it was cold; he just went straight for his trunk to check if the letter was still there. Of course it was. Harry was just so paranoid that he began to imagine Hitsugaya with x-ray eyes or psychic powers. What? It didn't sound that absurd in the magical world.

"'Arry?" Ron mumbled, still groggy from sleep. "What'cha doing?"

"I'll show you later." Harry muttered, checking that Toshiro was gone. He was. Harry rolled up the sock and stuffed it in his robes, which he put on quickly in case someone tried to make a grab for it.

"Come on Ron, let's go down for breakfast. I've have just made an enormous breakthrough."

"Well _I _need to make the enormous breakthrough out of bed first." Ron murmured. "Wait a sec."

They went down for breakfast a few minutes later. Toshiro wasn't there, thank God. He wouldn't be there to hear it.

"Psst! Hermione!" Harry whispered. She looked up.

"What?"

Harry dug the sock out of his pocket. "Look at this!"

"Look at… your sock?"

Harry puffed in frustration and pulled the letter out of the sock. It stank like hell but he was too excited to care. "This!"

"What's that?" Ron asked as Hermione edged closer to read it.

"A letter to Toshiro," she muttered. "Where did you get that?"

"Er… well a butterfly flew in last night with the paper and dropped it on Toshiro's desk… and I… well…"

"You _stole _it?" Hermione exclaimed. He clamped his hand over her mouth. People were staring.

"It's nothing, go back to eating," he chuckled weakly, then hissed "Shh! What if he hears you?"

"Wait, a _butterfly_ took it here?"

"Yeah, a black and pink one about this big." He held his thumb and middle finger apart to make a 'C'. Hermione looked puzzled.

"Since when do butterflies deliver letters? And how could such a small thing carry something like this?" She held it up an read it quietly.

"See, doesn't this prove that he's here for some other reason? _I hope your investigation goes smoothly_, he's not here to learn magic or anything Hermione, he's spying on us!"

"Wait, but what does it mean by _the real world_?" Ron asked, pointing at it. "Is that supposed to mean he's from the 'not real world' then?"

"Don't be absurd, Ron, there is no 'not real world.' Perhaps its an inside joke… And look at this." She pointed at the blotch that covered the name of the person working with Toshiro. "Who's this? The ink's gone all runny…"

"Is there any sort of spell that can deal with it?" Harry asked hopefully. This letter was perhaps the biggest thing that had happened since the incident with Mrs. Norris, and the most useful thing of it was hidden behind a drop of water. They were so close it was infuriating.

"I can try, there is one spell I know…" She waved her wand over the paper and muttered some words. The water began to disappear, and they leaned in to see, but all it revealed was a rather ugly looking smiley made from Japanese characters. The two boys looked at Hermione.

"Did you do something wrong?"

Hermione flushed. She never did things wrong, and no one was going to accuse her of doing so. "Is this the original version, Harry?"

"The original version?"

"Yeah, did you do anything to it?"

"Well, I translated it from Japanese to English, but that's all."

"You translated it?" Hermione stared at the paper. "Then we have no idea if this is really what was written on the paper. For all we could know this is a whole bunch of nonsense. No wonder it doesn't make much sense." She threw it on the table, obviously annoyed.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Harry prodded her. "You don't trust my spellwork?"

"Would you happen to have a copy of the original?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Uh… no…"

They sighed. "Bloody hell, to think we were so close to uncovering something worth it, and now it's gone." Ron poked his porridge with a spoon.

"But guys, seriously, don't you want to know more about this?"

"Harry, you should never have taken it without Toshiro's permission." Hermione scolded. "It's stealing, and now we have no way of giving it back. There might have been important stuff from his family there."

"Look, I swear, this is what it says! What if this really was from Voldemort-"

"Don't say his name!"

"And we just regarded it as nonsense?" Harry continued, ignoring Ron's panic.

Hermione grabbed the paper. "Look at this! _Wherever you are the stuff there is messing up your phones… call me… _This is obviously _not_ You-Know-Who."

"Why?"

She rolled her eyes as if she were talking to a particularly stupid toddler. "Phones are a muggle invention. You-Know-Who hates muggles, remember? And this person doesn't seem to know that cell phones don't work here in Hogwarts."

"They don't?" Ron and Harry asked in unison.

She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Oh my gosh, how many times do I have to tell you? The magic here overloads all electrical devices and messes them up. You-Know-Who ought to know that."

Harry hated to admit it, but she was right. Voldemort claimed to know everything about Hogwarts, if he didn't even know something like that it'd be kind of sad.

"Well, what if it's translation problems?"

"Exactly my point! We have no idea if this is really the complete and accurate translation of the _original _letter this person sent or if it's just something you managed to make up."

"How could I make something like this up?"

"I'm not saying that you did it on purpose, Harry, but if the spell wasn't cast properly the whole thing would be ruined, and since we don't have the original we can't really check."

Harry refused to drop the matter (as usual) but Hermione wouldn't listen, and Ron, although he tried to believe it, the evidence was just not enough. He dropped it as well, and Hermione changed the subject.

"Guys, I've been thinking about what McGonagall said, about the Chamber of Secrets."

"You have?" Ron asked in mock surprise. Hermione punched him in the ribs.

"Anyway, the one who can open it is the'Heir of Slytherin', right? And fifty years ago, it was opened and a girl was killed right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, who do we know that _really_ hates muggles, and is in Slytherin?"

They didn't even have to think. "Malfoy." Ron said, his eyes wide. "You think _he's _the Heir of Slytherin?"

"He's more likely than Toshiro," she said, scowling at Harry, who scowled back. "His father was at Hogwarts fifty years ago, right?"

"You think he taught Malfoy how to open the Chamber?" Harry asked, half disbelieving and half enthusiastic.

"You guys are suspecting the Malfoy boy?"

The three jumped. Toshiro had (somehow) appeared soundlessly behind them, and was staring at them.

"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Harry demanded

"You guys were practically announcing your suspicions to the whole Hall. I just happened to walk by."

Harry scowled at him, but Hermione seemed quite happy to see him.

"So what do you think? I mean, Malfoy's the most suspicious one here, and he fits the description."

Toshiro thought for a moment. Yes, Malfoy was an annoying prat who hated muggles, but that was pretty much all he was. He had a lot of experience with criminals, and Malfoy just didn't strike him as one.

"You're going to need more evidence if you want to accuse Malfoy of something like that."

"Why?" Ron asked. Toshiro sighed.

"You think he is the Heir of Slytherin because he's in Slytherin and hates muggles," he gestured at the Slytherin table. "Doesn't that apply to everyone there?"

Ron blinked a couple times, then his eyes sparked. He understood. Finally.

"Oh yeah, he's got a point, we can't just walk up to him and ask 'Hey are you the Heir of Slytherin' can we?"

Hermione was silent, obviously deep in thought. "I know one way to make him talk."

The other three stared at her, Toshiro not as enthusiastically, but still. Hermione had a very solemn look on her face, the same look she's had when she first asked McGonagall about the Chamber of Secrets.

***Totally made up spell, I just typed translate into a Latin translator and got that. **

**Hmm... Hinamori's letter is tied to something else I've written so if it seemed random it's not supposed to be… although I'm wondering again if it's too side-story-ish…. mehh**

**Oh I forgot to write this in the last chapter but this story takes place in between the part where Ichigo goes to rescue Rukia and when the Arrancar start invading, but the timeframe has kind of been extended to a bit more than one year but Soul Society is already aware of the Arrancar's existence. So… kind of like the Bounto arc time… I think. Just so you know. **


	11. Gathering

**Hi everyone… how's life? *weak chuckle* … I've been kinda wrapped up in homework these few months which is why I haven't updated for a while… sorrryyyy :(**

**PENNAME HAS CHANGED :] My childish side is coming back which is why I decided on a whim to change it :P sorry for the inconvenience caused. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter. Do you? (If you happen to be J.K. Rowling or Tite Kubo please don't sue me I meant no offense)  
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"Exactly why am I part of this again?"

Hermione scowled at him. "Pass the knotgrass"

Toshiro sighed, but gave her the grass anyway. To think that the great Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya would be reduced to doing something like this.

"Why are we doing this in the girl's bathroom again?" Ron asked stupidly, watching as the potion in the cauldron stewed and bubbled.

"I told you, because this is Myrtle's bathroom. No one comes here."

To prove her point, Myrtle the ghost girl popped out a toilet bowl and whizzed around crying. Toshiro sighed.

Ever since Hermione had put forward her theory about Malfoy being the Heir of Slytherin they had been cooped up in the leaky and abandoned toilet brewing a potion that supposedly could change their appearances to that of Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's trusted croonies. Toshiro had wanted to part in this, he was already under suspicion from both Dumbledore and Harry, and besides, he was still not convinced that Malfoy could have possibly attacked the caretaker's cat. Despite his appearances and attitude, he was pretty much just a coward inside, hiding behind his influential father. Toshiro could see that much, but the other three wouldn't listen to him. It was quite infuriating.

What was even more infuriating was the annoying ghost that was constantly whizzing around and sobbing her head off. She was terrified senseless of Toshiro, no surprises there, but the trio didn't seem to notice. He generally had that effect on people, and apparently ghosts as well. He gritted his teeth. It was unnatural, for these spirits to be tied to Earth for too long. Death was part of the cycle of life, and that meant moving on. Trust the wizards to screw up the laws of nature. But what annoyed him more was that as a shinigami, and a captain nonetheless, he couldn't even complete his simplest task- sending spirits to the afterlife. It made him feel so useless…

Somehow his thoughts trailed to Hinamori yet again. His dreams were becoming more intense and increasingly disturbing. He kept seeing Hinamori's broken form in a pool of blood, her look of horror as the man she had admired and loved all her life stabbed all that out of her… god damn it, _why_? And he had been unable to help, unable to save her as he lay dying next to her, and as she lay in her coma now, he was here doing some stupid mission where no more was to be found while he could be helping…

"Toshiro!"

He was shook out of his trance with a squirming leech in his face. A yelp found its way up to his throat, forced back down just in time before Hitsugaya made a fool of himself.

"What on earth is that?"

"It's a leech." Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Could you unsucculate it for me please?"

"Unsuccu-wha?"

"Unsucculate. Remove the suckers. Could you do that for these four please?" She pulled the wet slimy things from a pot and dropped them at his feet. He stared at the leeches, one of them oozing towards his leg. Now, he wasn't a squeamish one, but removing suckers from a leech wasn't exactly his cup of tea either. He pulled it from his pants and resisted the urge to make a face. Ron did that for him, turning a nasty shade of green.

"Isn't there a spell or something that we can use to transfigure ourselves?" he asked as Hermione dropped Boomslang skin into the cauldron.

"Human transfiguration is too complicated, we don't learn anything near that until fifth year."

Hitsugaya sighed, trying to remember anything to do with changing appearances that did not involve 'unsucculating' leeches. Nothing came to mind, at least nothing that didn't expose his identity as a shinigami. Sighing, he reluctantly picked up a knife and proceeded to remove the poor sucker's well… suckers.

"Toshiro."

He looked up, hoping there wasn't anything disgusting for him to do. "Yes?"

Hermione fidgeted a bit, slighting singeing the ends of her hair. She didn't seem to notice.

"You seem rather… out of it… lately… I dunno… it's just that… your expression is always so dreamy… in Transfiguration the other day Professor McGonagall had to call on you three times before you noticed she was calling you…"

He winced at that. It was a serous blow to his pride, being caught daydreaming like that. He had a lot on his mind that day: the strange creature traveling in the walls, Dumbledore's suspicion of him, and all that was happening back home. Jeez, exactly what were they thinking, sending a captain and vice captain all the way here when Soul Society was in such chaos? It had been bugging him ever since they came here. Anyhow, he still hadn't answered Hermione's question. An awkward silence descended over them, the only sound of the bubbling cauldron and Ron's gagging as the leech was split in half.

"Well…" Toshiro finally said quietly, "There have been some… troubles… back home…"

Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, and they knew what the other was thinking: did it have anything to do with the letter Harry had found? They still hadn't told Hitsugaya about it, the less he knew the better. Even Hermione had to admit getting on the bad side of the small white haired boy wasn't exactly a good idea.

"Where's Potter?" Hitsugaya asked abruptly, changing the subject. Ron looked annoyed.

"I told you, it's not Potter, it's Harry, Toshiro."

Hitsugaya glared at him. "And _I _told _you_, it's not Toshiro, it's Hitsugaya."

Ron threw his hands in the air. "Why do you want us to call you by your surname anyway? It's not like we're in Slytherin or something and hate each other."

Hermione and Toshiro sighed. This was like… the millionth time he had forgotten.

"So where is _Harry_?" Toshiro asked again, too annoyed to argue. Ron looked sideways at Hermione, who looked sideways at… er… Myrtle. Ron jumped; apparently he hadn't noticed her. She obviously took this to offense.

"What? Am I that _ugly_ and _scary_ that you must jump and scream every time you see me? Don't stare at me!" she squealed when Ron spluttered and attempted to apologize. "Oh, I get it, no one cares about poor _Myrtle_, because she's just dead and stuck in this _toilet._" She spat, or at least attempted to. Hitsugaya rubbed his temples.

"Please, could you not squeal in my ear like that?" he hissed, turning to face her. She let out a squeal of terror at the sight of the boy's teal orbs, and shot back down the toilet. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to be faced by Hermione and Ron's puzzled faces.

"How did you do that?" Ron marveled.

"Er… I didn't do anything…"

"But since when does Myrtle shoot down a toilet of her own accord?" Hermione stared at him, and he was suddenly aware of a smudge of dirt on his face. Not that that really mattered.

"It was probably your weird hair." Ron scoffed, smiling to himself. A vein throbbed and Hitsugaya went back to unsucculating his leeches.

Wet footsteps echoed through the bathroom, and the three raised their heads. It was Harry, obviously.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Where were you mate?" Ron asked, getting up from the wet floor.

"Wood said we're having a training session now," he said, supposedly aimed at Toshiro, although his eyes did not meet the other boy's. He got up anyway.

"Now?"

"Yes, now. He's gonna be mad if we're late."

Hitsugaya sighed, he was in the middle of removing the third leeches suckers and was quite happy to leave the job to Ron. Washing his hands in the leaky sink, he followed Harry out the door.

"We have a Quidditch match pretty soon, don't we?"

Harry nodded. "That's probably why Wood called the sudden training session." He stole a sideways glance at Toshiro, making sure he wasn't about to break his neck or something. "Anyway, we'd better hurry."

Toshiro nodded and they ran to the broom cupboard. Most of the team was there, save for Angelina and the Weasley twins. There was also another girl he had never seen before.

"Alicia!" Harry looked surprised, going over to the girl. "I thought you had been jinxed!"

"I was, and I still can't play. I've got… well… better if you don't know." She glanced at Katie, who giggled. She turned to Hitsugaya, who was finding his broom. "So you're Toshiro, huh? I've heard a lot about you. Seems like Wood wasn't kidding about your hair." She smiled and ruffled the white bush, causing a vein to throb at the back of his head. He shook her hand off his scalp and nodded politely.

"You must be Alicia. Nice to meet you."

She laughed and turned to Wood. "A polite one, isn't he?"

"I'm sorry I took your position, not being able to play must be frustrating."

Alicia shrugged. "Yeah, it's a little annoying, but it's not your fault. Hey, you can pay me back by bashing Slytherin down. I still haven't had my revenge on that thug Montague."

Katie laughed. "Toshiro's really good! And when he first tried out he said he had never played before."

"Well, we'll just have to see how good you are, won't we?" Alicia winked.

Angelina came in with Fred and George, squealing when she saw Alicia. Their high pitched shrieks weren't doing his ears any good, so Hitsugaya, fully clothed in Quidditch robes, picked up his broom and walked outside to where Wood and Harry were standing.

"Toshiro, I trust you've heard of the upcoming match?"

"Saturday, right?"

Wood nodded a little grimly. "We must beat Slytherin this year, no matter what. For Alicia."

The other team members walked out, Alicia trailing a little sadly behind them. They mounted their brooms and soared into the sky.

~xXx~

They were in the common room, having just come back from Quidditch practice. Harry collapsed into the sofa, sweating profusely. Toshiro collapsed in the armchair next to him. Harry hated to admit it, but he was _really good_. Alicia had been so impressed she said, only half-jokingly, that she might have to quit the team, because they couldn't replace Toshiro. More than half of the goals scored today were scored by him.

"That bad, huh?" Hermione commented, looking at the two boys. They just yawned in response. Wood was brutal. There was no doubt about that.

"I heard Alicia's back." Ron said, wading through the bodies and placing himself between Hermione and Harry.

"Yeah, but she's still got… er… I'm not sure exactly. Anyway, it's preventing her from playing."

Ron shook his head in disgust. "That Montague. He should be expelled for that!"

A flash of light temporarily blinded them. They all turned to face Colin, camera in hand.

"Could you please not sneak up on people and take pictures of them like that?" Hitsugaya hissed, rubbing his eyes. Colin looked a little scared, but managed to put on a slightly quivering brave face.

"I want to show my parents all the wonders of the wizarding world!" he grinned, pulling out the photo and examining it. "Could you please sign this, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I've already signed a lot of your pictures, and I'm too tired to sign anything right now."

Colin opened his mouth to protest, but just at that moment the door to the common room opened and the five of them turned, expecting someone like Fred or George coming back from Quidditch. Instead, Matsumoto stepped through, her strawberry blonde hair and loose robes recognizable anywhere. Most of the students jumped, and Toshiro put on a worried face. For her to come to the common room instead of just getting him to go to her office would mean something serious. Did Dumbledore say anything?

"Professor Matsumoto!" Hermione said, jumping up. Matsumoto turned. "W-what are you doing here?"

A grin broke across her face. "Well, I was kinda bored in my office all by myself, and seeing as you would all be here, I decided to come!"

There was a pause. For a teacher to come to a student's common room to have fun was well… unheard of. But then again, Matsumoto was a strange teacher. Hitsugaya face-palmed. Of course. How did he manage to think for one moment that she was serious?

Hermione looked a little skeptical but seemed to accept this. Matsumoto bounced over to Hitsugaya and dropped a watermelon on his lap.

"What's this?" he asked, picking the fruit up. Matsumoto sighed in mock exasperation, as if she was talking to a three-year-old. She knew exactly how to piss her captain off.

"It's a watermelon, stupid! I found it while raiding the kitchens! And I found this!" She held up a bad of dried persimmons, grinning as she picked one out and popped it in her mouth. His stomach did a little flip at the sight of the white circles; persimmons weren't really his thing.

"Professor Matsumoto, why did you give Toshiro a watermelon?"

Matsumoto laughed. "In case you didn't know, this guy's favorite food is watermelons and amanattou, but I couldn't find amanattou in the kitchens."

"You've been to the kitchens, professor?" Fred and George asked in unison, suddenly appearing at her shoulder. She grinned.

"Sure! You just go under the Great Hall and tickle the pear." The twins exchanged looks of mischief, and they could see a new prank sparking in their eyes.

"Now, you two don't cause any trouble, okay?" Matsumoto said, the mischief sparking in her eyes as well. The twins' smiles widened and they bowed, not exactly respectfully but more jokingly. "Yes, ma'am!" Then they scurried off, discussing their new discovery.

"Professor, telling those two something like that may not have been the best idea." Hermione said reproachfully. Matsumoto shrugged.

"As long as they don't explode anything I haven't got anything against it." She grinned and Hitsugaya sighed, looking and the tempting watermelon in his hands. His lieutenant seemed to notice.

"I didn't spike it or anything, don't worry." She produced a knife and cut open the watermelon. "Go on, eat up." When he looked reluctant, evidently still suspecting them of being poisoned or something, she picked up a piece and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Uh- Matsu-"

"Eat up!" she exclaimed stubbornly. "You know you want to!"

"Professor, how did you know Toshiro likes watermelons?"

"I know things," she said in what was supposed to be a very dramatic voice. "Would you like me to bring anything to you from the kitchens Ms. Granger?"

"Ooh, if you could bring me pie I'd really appreciate it!" Ron piped up, waving his hand in the air. Matsumoto smiled. "Whatever you want, Mr. Weasley."

"Ugh…" They turned. Apparently Matsumoto had not removed the watermelon yet. "Whoops! Sorry tai-I mean, Toshiro!" She caught herself quickly and let go of the watermelon, allowing the white haired boy to pull it out of his mouth. He scowled but the strawberry blonde knew he was secretly grateful. She winked in response to the imaginary gesture, and a vein started throbbing.

"Anyway, if you'll believe it, I actually came here for a reason," she announced to the rest of the common room. Heads turned as she dug around her robes, apparently looking for something

"Aha!" She pulled out a piece of paper, waded over to the bulletin board, and slapped it on. "Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to start a dueling club! Come sign up if you want!"

The room was silent, but this obviously did not put her off.

"Unfortunately, Dumbledore has also asked Snape to teach the club." She made a face, causing quite a few people to laugh and whoop. "I hope you'll come anyway."

The people in the common room started muttering to themselves, and Hitsugaya couldn't help but scoff. That she would actually accept something like that was surprising, but then again, it was dueling. She was good at that, and it'd be pretty interesting to watch.

"If you would like to sign up, please write your name on the sheet. Looking forward to seeing you all!" She grinned and winked again at her captain before walking out.

The common room was silent for a split second, then Colin Creevey burst out of his seat and said excitedly,

"I'm joining! It sounds fun; maybe I can take more pictures and send them to dad! Don't you think, Harry?"

"Uh…" was the boy's response, his mouth hanging open absently. He wasn't actually worrying about the dueling club, yes it sounded interesting, despite the teacher being Matsumoto, but he ad other things on his mind. He had never noticed, but it was obvious now that Toshiro was very close to the large busted teacher. It had never bothered him before but this was the first time he had ever seen the small white haired boy seem so amicable to anyone, in his own special way of course. Was it because they were both Japanese? Or…

"Harry." Toshiro was waving his hand up and down in front of his face, evidently puzzled at the boy's blank expression. Harry snapped back to reality and blinked innocently at him. "Yes?"

"Colin was wondering if you would join the dueling club."

"Yeah, it sounds very fun, Harry!" Hermione grinned, dropping down next to him. "It's a wizard's duel, after all. Remember that time Malfoy challenged you to one last year? You'll know what it's like now!"

They paused, and the trio cringed at the memory of being tricked by Malfoy into meeting him at the trophy room that resulted in almost getting caught by Filch and getting drooled on by a three-headed dog. Colin looked at them curiously, while Hitsugaya sighed and leaned back into his armchair, chewing off the last bit of red flesh from the watermelon and spitting a seed into a bowl that had appeared in front of him.

"Come on, I'll write our names on the paper. Toshiro, you too."

He nodded absently, scanning the room for a rubbish bin to dispose of the watermelon skins. That was when Nearly Headless Nick popped up through the plate, his head bobbing precariously on the high collar of his shirt. Toshiro flinched, not that he was scared of the ghost, but he was still not very used to them passing through things, especially seeing as he was also technically a 'ghost'.

"Hello Sir Nicholas, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from doing that in the future."

"What, passing through things?" Toshiro nodded. The ghost eyed him with a knowing eye, and the white haired boy realized that the transparent figure in front of him was the only one older than him in this room right now.

"Ooh, watermelons!" Nick exclaimed, his hand passing through the skins as he tried to pick on up. He looked at his transparent hand ruefully and shook his head sadly. It bobbled on the collar before falling off, and most of the room gasped in disgust. Even Toshiro had to find it a bit disgusting, especially seeing as he was staring straight into grayish stump of neck.

"Do you need help with anything?" he asked, thanking his lucky stars that he had seen worse things so he could preserve his dignity by not throwing up all over the place. Although he hadn't seen much that could top this.

"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to see how you all were doing," the ghost said, his head still hanging off his neck. The boy involuntarily made a face, and Nick seemed to realize exactly what position he was in. He lifted a transparent hand and pulled his head back in place, a sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry about that. I just love watermelons."

"You can't eat?" Toshiro asked curiously. He had never really thought about it, but now he realized that of course they couldn't. The food would just pass right through them.

"You can?" Nick asked incredulously before catching himself under the boy's glare.

"Yes, Sir Nicholas, I can," he hissed, a vein popping in the back of his neck. "I am solid, as you can see."

Under normal circumstances, Nick would have looked hurt at the implication, but of course Toshiro wasn't normal. So he let it pass, about to bow down in apology but catching himself as his head started to wobble again.

"Actually, I wanted to invite you to my Deathday Party. And you three as well," he said happily, revolving in the air to face the trio, who had taken a step back to avoid him passing through them.

"Your... deathday party?"

The ghost nodded carefully so that his head wouldn't fall off. "Don't you celebrate your Deathdays as well?" he asked before quickly correcting himself "I mean, birthdays. Silly me, I've been dead for a bit too long."

"You celebrate the day you die?" Ron asked, looking baffled.

"What? Is that a problem?" Nick rounded on him, his head wobbling yet again. Ron took another step back.

"Of course not!" Hermione grinned, patting Ron the back, with a bit more force than usual. "We'd love to come, Nick. When is it?"

"Christmas Day." he said importantly, puffing himself up while the three seemed to deflate.

"C-Christmas Day? As in... December 25th?"

"Of course. How many Christmases are there?"

"We can't go-" Ron was quickly silenced by Hermione's hand over his mouth and her forced wide smile. "We'll be there, Nick. We wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ron rolled his eyes and Harry sighed, as if he had just died right there, but Nick didn't seem to notice. He grinned and tears started filling up in his eyes. The four were a little taken aback as he sniffed and wiped them away. "T-thank you so much! Y-you have no idea what it means to me."

Hermione attempted patting him on the back, wincing as her hand passed through his ruffled shirt. "I-It's nothing, don't cry..." He shot them one last grateful smile before disappearing into the floor, leaving three disheartened children and one exasperated shinigami standing quiet solidly on the floor.

~xXx~

"Christmas Day, Hermione! I'd rather die than miss Christmas for something like that!"

"Well, that's kinda the point, isn't it?"

"What? How?"

"Would you two please stop bickering?"

Hermione and Ron turned to face an irritated Harry, whose vein pop looked pretty close to Hitsugaya's, his glare reducing them to little puddles in a matter of seconds.

"Well, the first dueling club meeting is next week." Hermione said quickly, eager to change the subject. Ron sighed.

"Professor Matsumoto huh? Wonder if she's up to the challenge."

"Hey guys..."

They turned again, admittedly a bit carefully this time, in case Harry pulled out his wand and blasted them to pieces. Not that he would. The imagination of the threatened can be quite vivid and absurd sometimes.

"Yes?"

"Don't you find it strange how... close... Hitsugaya seems to Professor Matsumoto?"

They had stopped walking, and an exasperated expression found its way onto Hermione's face. "Harry, there's nothing wrong with a student being close to certain teachers. You're closer to Dumbledore than the rest of us, and we have our Heads of Houses to communicate with."

"But still..."

"Not to mention that both Toshiro and Professor Matsumoto are both from Japan. You know, he may be feeling a little alienated and may feel more at ease with people from the same country as him."

"You know," Ron piped in, "I hate to say this, but I think you're becoming _way _too paranoid mate. Toshiro's weird and all but that's no reason to suspect him for plotting something behind your back all the time."

"Haven't we been through this already?" Hermione sighed, walking up to him. "If he really was working for Voldemort don't you think Dumbledore would know? And he's had so many opportunities to... well... hurt you, yet you're still here."

"But-"

"Plus you're in no position to criticize him!" she continued, cutting across him again, "You took that letter from him, morphed it beyond comprehension, and now we can't give it back to him! You have no idea who that might have been from. For all we know, it could be from his friend who's dying in some sad corner of the world, and he's worrying about that person, and you just destroyed that person's only way of communicating with him!"

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again when he couldn't think of anything. Well, said a tiny voice at the back of his head, She's right. You _are _being a little paranoid, to say the least, and you can't really blame him with such little evidence.

"Then I'll get evidence!" he declared, to no one in particular. Hermione gave him a puzzled look, and silence descended on them for a few seconds. Then she sighed.

"You know it's really unfair, the way you think of him. Think about it Harry. Put yourself in his shoes. You'll see how prejudiced you're being." And without another word, she turned on her heels and marched away. Ron gave him one last look, his mind torn between the two, the slightly reluctantly trailed after her. Harry was left standing on his own, his thoughts overflowing in his head.

A ripple of frustration ran through him, and he turned and stomped angrily away, Hermione's words ringing in his head. _Think about it, Harry. Put yourself in his shoes. You'll see how prejudiced you're being._

* * *

**I think I've said this before, but there will probably be no pairings unless it helps the story. So Hinamori is just his friend and nothing more, unless I see it fit to change that. **

**Oh and because I haven't been writing for a while, my timing's screwed up, which is why I am moving Nick's Deathday Party to Christmas instead of Halloween, which was when Mrs. Norris was petrified. The Quidditch match and Colin's 'petrification' are also going to be moved back a bit. **

**I think it's pretty obvious that I'm stalling until I can remember my story because right now the story's not going anywhere == SORRY EVERYONE! It must suck, I take forever to update and then when I finally do the chapters suck... hopefully it'll get better once I remember what's supposed to happen...  
**

**And finally, thank you so much to anyone who reviewed, and I know it must be frustrating that the updates take so long. I won't promise that the next chapter will come up soon, but I will try my best to update sooner. **

**Candied Sweets :]**


	12. Chionophobia

**Hi everyone! How've you been? Here's chapter twelve! Erm… It's around November-ish right now, and yes, the Quidditch game is a bit late. Oh well. **

**I'm not exactly sure why I named this chapter what I named it (Chionophobia-fear of snow)... I guess I just liked the long word :P**

**This chapter took _way _too much research for my liking, and I know it kinda got blabbery. Sorry… I just wanted to try something new and obviously it didn't work… I think I overdid it. Hopefully when people get hit by Bludgers it doesn't happen to them… but wait! Bludgers aren't real! Whoopee :]**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Bleach are totally mine. That's why I'm posting this here on a _fan_fic site. Yeah… no I'm kidding. I don't own them at all. That's why I'm posting this here on a _fan_fic site. Wow, you just experienced déjà vu.

* * *

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"MIAOOOOO!"

Toshiro stepped quickly aside just in time to avoid the airborne cat, which crashed into the wall behind him. Undaunted, Momo sprung up and decided to launch another sneak attack, this time managing to scrape off a bit of his hair.

"Momo, no!" Matsumoto's strawberry blonde head appeared at the doorway, and he saw, to his surprise, that she was holding a book. Her face lit up upon seeing her captain, but wasted no time in scooping up the cat, who hissed.

"Taicho… what did you do to her this time?" Matsumoto pouted, rocking Momo back and forth in her arms, making cooing noises and looking like a mother taking care of her baby. The thought was just so disturbing Toshiro put it at the back of his mind so it wouldn't bother him.

"I didn't do anything! It just pounced and attacked me!"

"Nonsense, Momo wouldn't do that!" She made sure she was calmed down before putting her down and letting her run off to her office.

"So, taicho. Looking for me?"

"No, I was looking for Momo," he replied sarcastically, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"You remember Nick? The ghost who's head's about to fall off?"

"Sure I do." Matsumoto replied, shivering slightly at the memory of his head hanging on the tiny strand of skin.

"It's his… er… deathday… party a few weeks later and unfortunately I've been invited."

"Eh… his deathday party? They celebrate their deaths?"

"Apparently," he replied, shrugging. "Anyway, that's not the problem. You wouldn't happen to have one of those memory chains on you, would you?"

"Why would you need one?"

"Well it was already hard enough for Nick to not give our disguises away, and the people- I mean, ghosts, attending the party, don't know that we're in disguise. If we were to be found out it would be problematic."

"Eh…" She grabbed her bag, which was for some reason lying on one of the desks in the classroom. She looked through it, throwing stuff out to look at the bottom of the bag, some so big Toshiro wondered how she had fit them in the bag. "No, I didn't bring one. I didn't think we'd need it."

"Neither did I, but so many things haven't gone according to plan." Toshiro ran a hand through his hair, his palm stopping at his forehead. He bit his lip, thinking.

"I'll think of something else then…" he muttered, about to turn to leave. Then he remembered something. "Oh right. How did the meeting with Dumbledore go?"

Matsumoto stuck out her tongue and shrugged. "Piece of cake. He's so gullible if I told him I was a purple octopus in disguise he would probably believe it."

"A… purple octopus?" Hitsugaya wondered under his breath, sighing yet again. "Did he say anything… strange?"

"Meh. Just told me to watch out for myself and you know, keep a closer eyes on you." She grinned and widened her eyes, staring straight at him. He did not move, but stared right back at her. In the end she gave up under the harsh turquoise eyes.

"Ne, taicho, his office is _huge_! It's like…" She tried to get the size of it by holding her arms as far away from her body, but found out they weren't long enough. "It was big! And there were so many books and weird stuff that made weird noises and this big red bird thing that breathed fire and moving pictures and... and…"

"Yes Matsumoto, I think I get it," he interrupted, not really in the mood for listening to her rant on about the awesomeness of the old man's office. "But are you sure that he didn't suspect anything? I doubt he's headmaster of this school for no reason."

"What, you don't believe me, taicho? After all the experience I've had with you?"

"Oh, so you admit it now?"

"Eh… I didn't say anything! Better hurry off to bed, or I'll put you in detention!"

A vein pulsed in his forehead as she ruffled his white hair, a grin stretching from ear to ear plastered on her face. "Well, I mean it, Matsumoto. Don't underestimate that man."

"Sure, sure! You watch out for Potter yourself."

"Hn."

~xXx~

The last remnants of sleep were slowly slipping away from Harry, but he lay in bed for a while, his sleepy mind under the impression that he could go back to sleep if he did that, but obviously it was not the case. Still, his bed was just too comfortable… he turned, trying to find the cold side of the pillow. He didn't want to wake up yet, the sun wasn't even up for God's sake!

Last night had been one of the few nights when he hadn't had nightmares. In fact, he hadn't dreamed at all last night, or at least, he couldn't remember anything. Honestly, it was much better than wondering if pies had any meaning. Finally, he decided he would get up, and pushed himself from the bed, grunting a little in the process. He grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, shoved them on his face and took a look around the room.

Toshiro was in his bed, for once. Usually he would already be up at this time, or on the couch. The signature tuft of white hair peeked out from under the blankets, along with his eyes. It freaked Harry out watching him sleep, as he didn't sleep with his eyelids fully closed. From where he was, it was as if the small boy was watching him with those teal orbs of his.

And once again Harry considered his suspicions about him, counting off the reasons against him. He was strange, made Harry uncomfortable whenever he was around. There was a lot that they didn't know about him; he kept to himself, and that letter that practically announced he was here for purposes other than to learn, as he claimed.

Harry bit his lip in mid thought. Now that he thought about it, like really thought about it, none of them were really concrete, just as Hermione had said. Being strange wasn't exactly his fault, and the bout of sickness that Harry had experienced was almost completely gone now. Heck, he was in the same room as Toshiro and he felt fine. And if he wasn't all that talkative who cared? Maybe he just didn't feel like telling the whole world about his life.

Which left the letter. He still hadn't given it back, despite all of Hermione's nagging. What was he supposed to say? _Oh, sorry, I took this letter from you while you were sleeping and translated it to the point where you can't really see the original anymore. Sorry, no hard feelings. _

There was so much in there, but it was so out of context and with too much missing it was of no use to him. But he couldn't just dismiss it as trash just like that. There was too much potential in that letter!

Harry buried his face in his hands, annoyed at this continuous line of questions without answers. Was he really just being paranoid? The last incident of Quirrel and Voldemort may have affected his mind…

Bringing his head up, Harry took a long look at the boy sleeping in the bed next to the window. As he had been on the couch and the night Harry took the letter from him, his face was scrunched up, as if in pain, sweat rolling off his paler-than-usual face. It was as if this guy was unable to have one night of peaceful sleep. Exactly what was going through that head of his?

Harry got out of bed and tip toed over to his bed, seeing if there was a face sticking out from the back of his head. Obviously there wasn't, just a load of white hair. Not like he had expected anything. Just checking.

"You're up early."

Harry jumped back as one of Toshiro's eyelids opened, fully showing his startling eye.

"You're up late."

"Didn't sleep well," he replied, yawning slightly as he got up. His already unruly hair was even messier right now, but he didn't seem to care. "Is it… Monday?"

"Er… no, it's still Saturday. Are you alright?" In the few months that Harry had known him, this boy never mixed anything up, and here he was forgetting what day of the week it was.

"Ugh, of course." He yawned again, kicking off the covers. "It's far too stuffy in here," he proclaimed, going over to the windows and throwing them open. Harry watched as his stiff body loosened up as the cold air rushed into the room.

"Are you crazy? It's freezing!"

Toshiro didn't answer, instead he stared out the window, his eyes wide open. Annoyed, Harry went over to him, waving a hand in his face while trying to protect himself from the cold.

"Yo, did you hear me? It's positively freezing in here! You'll wake everyone up!"

He seemed to snap from a trance, slowly closing the window. "Sorry. Just admiring the scenery." He draped his robes over his clothes and went outside.

"Huh? Admiring the scenery?" Harry wondered, pushing aside the red curtains and looking out the window.

The grounds were a winter wonderland, completely covered in white, sparkling snow.

~xXx~

"Good morning."

"Morning" Toshiro didn't have to turn to know who it was that had greeted him. She sat down next to him and started piling food on her plate. He noted the radishes hanging from her ears, and wondered why her ears hadn't stretched from the weight.

"It snowed last night."

"I saw."

"I expect you're pleased."

"Of course." A small grin broke across his face despite himself, but he quickly stuffed his face with bacon to hide it. Not that he could really hide anything from Luna. It was like she could read his mind.

"Is there a Quidditch match today?"

"Yup."

"Against Slytherin."

A nod. "We're actually supposed to go meet in an hour. Wood feels like having a last minute practice."

"Well, good luck. I shall be supporting Gryffindor." She pulled out a large and rather ridiculous looking hat of a lion's hat and pulled it over her head. She tapped the nose, and it roared.

"Did you make that?" Toshiro asked, mildly impressed.

"Yes, although I did have some help. It'll keep my ears warm."

"I expect it will."

Luna smiled, and the Shinigami couldn't help but do so as well. Although he acted like he couldn't be stuffed to worry about the Quidditch game, he was actually looking forward to it. Perhaps it was his competitive side, but he really wanted to kick Malfoy's ass and wipe that arrogant smirk off his face for once. And besides, he wanted to get on that broom again and feel the thrill of the air rushing past his face. Plus, it was snowing!

The doors opened and Hermione walked in, her hair slightly ruffled, although it didn't really make much of a difference, as her hair was too bushy anyway.

"Mornin'" she yawned, taking her place across from Toshiro. "Did you see the snow?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's actually come a bit late this year, I think."

"Well, it's here now."

She smiled, running a hand through her hair and taking some food from the golden plates in the middle. She took a few bites, then looked around before leaning forward and saying quietly, "It's almost ready, I think." She shot a reproachful glance at Luna, who didn't seem to have heard.

"I thought it had to brew for a month."

"It had been a month." Hermione cocked her head to one side, looking at him critically. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy, I guess," he replied, cursing himself inwardly for getting the time mixed up again. First the day of the week, and now this. He had to pay more attention to what was going on around him.

"Will you be okay for the Quidditch match today?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied dismissively, getting up. "I'm going to-"

"The library." Luna finished for him.

"Yeah."

"You'll have time to get to Quidditch, right?"

"Of course." With that, he made his way to the door. Matsumoto happened to be entering the hall at that moment, and they paused for a few moments for her to say something to him, and for him to reply, before heading their respective ways. She walked past them, winking at Hermione as she did so.

"It's not weird at all," Hermione muttered to herself, thinking of what Harry had said the other day.

"No it's not." Luna agreed, looking dreamily at the ceiling.

~xXx~

"Toshiro! Hurry, you're late!"

"Sorry," said boy apologized, taking his place between the two other chasers. To his dismay, he saw that even the twins were already here. They had all been waiting for him.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I'll go over the plan again." The board was filled with moving squiggles again, and as Wood explained his game plan they moved around across the chalk court.

"Everyone, we must win this year! Not only to wipe those smirks off Slytherin's faces, but also for Alicia!" Heads turned to face her, and she blushed slightly.

"Okay, Gryffindor on three. Alicia, you too!" They all put their hands in the middle, Toshiro having to stretch his hand up a bit, much to his annoyance.

"One, two, three, GRYFFINDOR!" They all pulled their hands back, shouting the name of their house together. Cheers erupted from outside, and Wood signaled at them to march out.

"Take care of yourselves, y'all. It's snowing as well." Alicia warned as they filed out, waving at the crowd. "Toshiro, make me proud."

He didn't answer, instead just nodded and followed the others out, his broom slung over his shoulder.

They all gathered at the middle of the court, and Madam Hooch gave her customary introduction. Wood and Flint shook hands, crushing each other's hands in the process, glaring death glares at each other. Malfoy smirked and Harry and Toshiro, and Harry clenched his fists around his broom. Toshiro simply ignored him.

"Mount your brooms!" Hooch shouted, pulling her goggles over her eyes to shield them from the snow. They did so, and Toshiro noticed that most of them were shivering. He, on the other hand, was enjoying the blasts of cold wind and snow flying in his face.

The whistle was blown, and they all shot into the air. Katie had the Quaffle first, and she shot towards the goal, the other two Chasers following her. She passed to Angelina, who scored. The crowd erupted into cheers.

A Slytherin Chaser had the ball, and was shooting towards the goal. He was blocked by Katie, and tried passing to his teammate. It never reached its target, as Toshiro intercepted it halfway and shot in the opposite direction. High-pitched shouts erupted from the stands.

He was flying very quickly, not caring about the freezing air rushing past him. He swerved to avoid a Slytherin Chaser, and continued to race towards the goal posts. He aimed and scored, a grin breaking across his face as the crowd cheered again.

Slytherin had it again, and they seemed pretty agitated. The three Chasers grouped together to form a V, and flew towards the Gryffindor goalposts. However, they had to break formation as a Bludger came flying their way, almost knocking Montague off his broom. Toshiro spared a glance over his shoulder to see the Weasley twins grinning, their bats in hand.

The ball was quickly retrieved after that, and yet another goal was scored by Katie. Things started getting dirty after this though, as Slytherin started going rough. Bludgers were flying everywhere, and Fred and George seemed to be having a hard time keeping up with all of them. To top things, it had started to snow again. While this was good news for Toshiro, everyone else was suffering from the harsh weather. Angelina almost dropped the Quaffle one time, and George almost hit a Bludger at Hitsugaya, and he had to perform yet another Sloth Grip Roll to avoid it in time.

Still, this did not stop them from scoring a fourth goal, resulting in groans from the green stands and cheering from the other three stands. Toshiro could hear the roar of Luna's lion hat over the din, and wondered if her ears were warm.

That was when Montague grabbed one of the Beater's bats and hit a Bludger in Wood's direction, knocking him off his broom. He fell to the ground, sending a cloud of snow flying, and Flint scored. There were groans and screams, some cursing Montague with very… colorful… words. He didn't seem to care, the smirk on his face unmoving, until Fred hit another Bludger at him, forcing him to move. Toshiro gritted his teeth, and sped forward to catch the Quaffle that Angelina had thrown to him, ducking as Adrian Pucey attempted to elbow him in the face. That earned them a penalty, and the white haired boy shot forward to score another goal.

While all this was happening, Harry hovered above the court, scanning it for the Golden Snitch. Unfortunately, at the moment his view was blocked by Malfoy's annoying smirk. He flew over to one side, but Malfoy followed. He tried to get away, but would always end up with Malfoy in his face.

"What's the matter, Potter? Can't see past those glasses?"

"No, I just can't see past your ugly face." Harry replied vehemently, knowing that this would anger the vain boy.

"You're not one to talk, are you?" he spat back, smirking.

"Neither are you. Your team's losing, and we're winning."

This did the trick, and Malfoy opened his mouth in rage, about to say something. That was when Harry saw something flutter next to his ear. His eyes widened as he saw the Golden Snitch hovering just behind Malfoy's head.

"Oh, it's just 30 points, we'll beat you, easy." Malfoy was saying, oblivious to Harry's expression or the golden ball floating next to his head.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Malfoy." He rushed forward, hand outstretched, missing the golden ball by inches. Alarmed, the blond boy turned, but Harry was already chasing the snitch.

"He's seen the snitch!" Lee Jordan shouted into the microphone, and heads turned to see a red blur shooting across the pitch, closely followed by a green blur.

"HARRY WATCH OUT!"

A gasp caught in his throat as a Bludger hurtled past him, barely missing his nose. He turned and saw Fred furiously beating it back at one of the Slytherin beaters, quickly giving him a thumbs up. He grinned weakly back at him, then turned his attention back to chasing the snitch. However, in barely fifteen seconds the Bludger had caught up to him again, and he had to dodge it again, allowing Malfoy to fly in next to him.

"Training to be a ballerina, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, trying to knock Harry off his broom. He hung on, and crashed back into Malfoy, but the fight was quickly broken apart as the Bludger came crashing back.

"What on Earth-" He sped up, trying to lose the Bludger, but it followed him relentlessly. Not to mention that Malfoy was taking up the space.

Shouts came from the stands as the crowd realized what was happening. Bludgers were supposed to target players indiscriminately, and here was one literally chasing Harry and only Harry.

"Why does this always happen to me?" he thought, gritting his teeth and flying as fast as he could. It cold air was like a knife on his cheeks, cutting into his flesh, and Malfoy was forced to slow down; the pain was too much for him. Unfortunately, Harry did not have that luxury; the Bludger was catching up.

Toshiro had just scored, but he wasn't really paying attention. In all their training sessions the Bludgers had never acted like this. He could see the snitch, a little more than an arms length, and Harry's arm outstretched, his gloved fingers trying to reach for it, while looking over his shoulder to see if the Bludger was still there. He saw him grind his teeth, and finally his fingers wrapped around the golden ball. A great grin broke across his face as the stands erupted in cheers of "He's got it!" and "Gryffindor wins!".

"LOOK OUT!"

Harry could hardly turn before a Bludger came crashing his way, too fast for him to dodge. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

It never came. There was a dull thud and Harry felt something, not a Bludger, more like a person, slacken on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw a head of spiky white hair.

Have you ever been punched, hard, in the stomach before? If you haven't, good for you. Let's hope it stays that way. If you have, as painful as it might be, try to remember that pain. Now imagine that the thing that punched you, be it a fist or rogue Bludger, was moving at a speed of more than sixty miles per hour. Must hurt, shouldn't it?

A lot of things happen when you're punched in the stomach and have no time to flex. First, all your insides are literally forced back into an unnatural position, and this coupled with the extra sensitive nerves can cause a lot of pain. The force of the punch also forces the diaphragm to expel air, hence the expression: "knocking the air out of someone." The unflexed muscles also feel the pain, and in all, that's a lot of pain.

Just below the sternum, in front of the rib cage, is a cartilaginous section called a xiphoid process. It is not attached to any ribs, but at 15 to 29 years old, it usually fuses to the body of the sternum with a fibrous joint. Unlike the synovial articulation of major joints, this is non-movable.

The word derives from the Greek word _xiphos_ for straight sword; apparently they thought it looks like one. And it does. A short, straight sword attached to the end of the sternum hanging precariously over the liver and diaphragm. I'm sure that, sometime throughout the course of your life, someone has warned you that knives are dangerous, and that you shouldn't play with them, or you'll get hurt. If you have any common sense, you would at least heed to that warning and not go around throwing knives at your eyes or anything.

CPR can save your life, but when done incorrectly, can cause quite some damage. Pressure on the xiphoid process should be avoided during CPR, as this can cause it to break off and puncture or cut the diaphragm or liver. As most of you know, the diaphragm plays an important part in respiration, and when damaged, can cause serious breathing problems.

Of course, this is just CPR. Let's go back to the faster-than-sixty-miles-per-hour-weighing-over-one-hundred-and-forty-pounds Bludger, shall we? This potentially wields much more power than a failed CPR, although CPR can hurt as well, assuming the person isn't dead yet, of course. But the point is, a Bludger hurts a lot more than CPR, and when placed in the right place, can send that xiphoid process ricocheting, bearing in mind that that could be a hyperbole.

The explanation is all good, but of course all this wasn't running through Hitsugaya Toshiro's head when that Bludger crashed into his stomach and forced his internal organs backwards, caused his diaphragm to expel air, caused his xiphoid to ricochet around his ribs, causing a laceration in his liver that caused him to cough up blood when he was already out of air.

He gasped, his head already spinning from the lack of air. He coughed up more blood, the crimson liquid dripping down form the corners of his mouth. The Bludger quivered before attempting to shoot off in Harry's direction, but Toshiro managed to gather enough energy to glare at it. It frosted over, shattering into a million pieces of ice. The Bludger was gone, but the pain wasn't. It screamed throughout his body, his head full of them, although whether they were real or just in his head was unclear at this stage.

Suddenly, his stomach overturned, and the bile rose to his throat before he could stop it. He was retching, vomiting onto the court, onto the previously white and pure snow, save for the few drops of blood. The vomit kept coming with the blood, the pain burning and threatening to take the scream from his head and to his mouth, where he would scream as loud as he could before another bout of blood and bile came to take over.

"Toshiro? Hey! Can you hear me?" Harry voice came faintly over the din of the screaming. Nevertheless, the world was slowly slipping away, and he happily let the darkness envelop him. It was better than the pain.

~xXx~

He was plagued by those troubling dreams yet again. The dream of Hinamori stabbing him in the abdomen came back, then replaced by disturbing dreams of Aizen and pie, then of Matsumoto and watermelons. Nearly Headless Nick seemed to float in and out of his dreams as well.

Finally, Hyourinmaru's voice punctuated the increasingly weird-ifying dreams, ringing clear and loud with a ring of iciness to it.

_Don't you think you've rested enough, Toshiro-kun?_

_It's Hitsugaya-taicho_, he retorted automatically.

_My, my, you have been in the world of rainbows and unicorns for a bit too long. Time to wake up, I think._

_Rainbows and unicorns? What on Soul Society (A/N OMG I was just waiting to say that for so long! ^^) are you talking about?_

_Wakey wakey, Toshiro-kun. And next time don't be so reckless._

_It's Hitsugaya!_

_Tch. Your friends are waiting for you. Don't keep them for too long._

_Wha…_

His eyes fluttered open, the surroundings blurry at first. Then things came into focus, and he found himself lying in the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione were sitting on one side of the bed, Matsumoto on the other. Matsumoto was the first to see him wake up, and she jumped up and brought him into a bone crushing hug.

"Oh my gosh, I was so worried! You just got knocked out like that, and… and… and…"

"Ma…tsumoto… C-can't breathe…"

"Oh sorry!" She released him from her grip, sitting back in her chair. Hitsugaya had time to glare at her for about half a second before Ron punched him in the shoulder, hard.

"What were you thinking, doing something as dangerous as that? You could have died, you know!"

He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Hermione brought them both into a hug, much less crushing than Matsumoto's but still painful.

"You… _stupid_… _idiot_!" she sobbed, tightening her grip on them. "Do you know _how _worried we were… when we saw you… coughing _blood_ and vomiting and holding back that scream… _do you know how much we worried_? You were saving Harry, sure, but_…_" She could not continue, because her sobs were too overwhelming. Toshiro pushed her from him gingerly, bitterly reminded of how he had reacted when he had seen Hinamori on the floor in the pool of her blood.

"Well… I'm okay now, aren't I?" he said tentatively, not really sure how to talk to the crying girl sitting by his bed. "Speaking of which, what happened to me? I remember getting hit by the Bludger, and then…"

"Well, after Dumbledore turned that Bludger into ice, you lost consciousness and fell." Hermione said, her voice a little shaky. "Harry caught you and brought you here. You have internal bleeding, your stomach's in bad shape, plus your diaphragm got cut up, not to mention the liver damage you sustained. I think there was also a… lung puncture… Madam Pomfrey's tried her best and she's fixed most of it up, but you're gonna have to stay here for a night." She sniffed every few seconds, as if recounting his injuries hurt her. He wondered if it should have been the other way round. It didn't really matter to him though, as long as he was alive and learned his lesson: don't go around getting hit by Bludgers, especially not rogue ones.

"_Dumbledore_… turned the Bludger into ice?"

"Yeah, and by the looks of it he was pretty angry about how it was tampered like that."

He cast a worried look at Matsumoto. They both knew that he had turned that Bludger into ice, not Dumbledore. Was the old man protecting him?

"And what about Potter?"

"He wasn't hurt." Ron replied, "You took the full force of the Bludger for him. No wonder he was so worried about you."

"Where is he?"

"Er…" Ron and Hermione exchanged looks and did not answer, so Matsumoto piped in, "He's talking to the headmaster."

Toshiro laid a hand over the spot where the Bludger had punched him and winced. It seemed that the nurse had been unable to get rid of the bruise, but most of the pain had subsided. He wanted to stay in bed for the night, he was pretty sure he deserved it, but there were many things he had to finish, and apart from some pain he was okay… somewhat…

"Can I leave now instead of tomorrow? I feel fine now, and besides, there are a lot of things I want to clear up."

"You can't leave!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes still a little red. "Not after that!"

"No really, I feel fine…" He tried to get up, but was only pushed down by Matsumoto. He could smell some sake in her breath, more than usual. Stupid woman.

"Taicho," she said in Japanese, and very seriously "You've gone and beat yourself up so badly, so don't expect us to let you leave this room until you get all better."

"But…"

"Or I'll have to hug you again!"

He blanched at the thought, and she grinned. "See?" she continued in English, "Not so hard now, is it?"

A vein throbbed in his forehead, but he did not argue.

"Taicho… if only you could be this obedient all the time." Matsumoto sighed in mock exasperation. Any pretense of compliance disappeared, and he filled his lungs with air before shouting out the name of his oh-so-very-annoying subordinate.

"MATSUMOTO!"

"I think he's going to be just fine." Hermione laughed, Ron nodding weakly in agreement.

~xXx~

In fact, Harry was just standing outside, with Dumbledore as Matsumoto had said. He was completely unhurt, apart from a small bruise on his shoulder where Toshiro had collapsed and mild frostbite that Madam Pomfrey had healed in an instant.

They had won the game, but none of them were really in the mood for celebration, especially not Harry. He had been so paranoid and suspicious about Toshiro, and now he was in the hospital wing with critical injuries from protecting him. He felt so ashamed of ever thinking that he would even hurt a hair on his head.

After they had rushed him to Madam Pomfrey, Harry had come out to breathe, only to see Dumbledore standing outside, looking like he had been waiting for him. Now all he was doing was looking at him, his blue eyes x-raying him from head to toe.

"Professor, you were looking for me?" Harry finally said, breaking the silence. The old man smiled, the wrinkles on his face shifting as the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

"Of course, how silly of me. I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what, sir?"

"Oh, just some things that old men like me would think of." He smiled again, and the tension was released from Harry's body. Then he remembered what had made him nervous again, and he hung his head, the shame burning through him.

"Sir, you know how I told you about how I suspected Toshiro of attacking Mr. Filch's cat?"

"Yes,"

"Well, I don't think that's the case anymore." He raised his head to meet unmoving blue eyes behind those half-moon spectacles. Dumbledore never had any other expression on his face; Harry didn't know if it was just that he was just always happy, or it a mask to hide what he was feeling underneath.

"And why is this?"

"Well..." the words caught in his throat; they were too shameful to form into audible words that would become concrete the moment they left his lips. If they just stayed in his mind, he might be able to deny anything else later... but then he might never be able to deny it to himself. Damn, this was going too deep.

"Is it because he hurt himself to protect you?"

Harry hesitated, then nodded. Dumbledore lowered his glasses and they reflected the light of the setting sun, looking for a moment as if his eyes were glowing gold. "Yes, I too doubt that Mr. Hitsugaya has any evil intentions being here." He paused as Harry shifted uncomfortably. "However," he continued, "I do think he's here for reasons other than the obvious."

"You mean, other than to learn?"

"Yes."

Harry waited for him to elaborate, but the elderly man seemed preoccupied with his wrinkled hands.

"Well, it has been an eventful day." Dumbledore said finally in his usual cheery voice. "Rest well, Harry. You need it." He turned to leave.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"That Bludger that shattered…"

The old man turned to face Harry, still smiling. "I was the one who inflicted that damage upon it. Do not worry, it shall be repaired." And without any further delay, he left, whistling one of his mermaid songs along the way.

* * *

**Ughh it was so hard writing that part about the being punched. Gosh they _say _wikipedia is English but I swear half of it is Latin. At least, the medical part. Sorry if I got anything wrong, I didn't get much of what I was saying anyway :P**

**On that… slightly related note… I have nothing against emos or people who feel so depressed they resort to hurting themselves, although I do hate seeing people around me get hurt. It's just that I don't think anyone would go as far as throwing knives at themselves just to hurt themselves and _not _to kill themselves… although I have a friend who tried shooting himself in the head with a BB gun. Needless to say I bashed his head in for him before he could get his finger on that trigger… ahem?**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! There are now over 200 reviews! You guys are awesome… and those reviews are what kept me motivated to keep going. THANK YOU ^^**

**Candied Sweets xD**


	13. Under Surveillance

**I hurried to get this up before I go off to Shanghai, so warning: unless I can miraculously find a computer in China and stick to it long enough to type up a whole chapter, the next chapter won't come out for at least two months. Although I probably will be writing by hand… **

**Thank you everyone who sent me beta reader offers, and thank you bluebird99 for betaing :] **

**Disclaimer: If I did own Bleach and Harry Potter, I would kill Aizen and get rid of the clichéd Harry Potter ending. Unfortunately, I don't own either of them, so I can't do that, and it's probably a good thing… **

**

* * *

**The news of Toshiro's 'accident' went around pretty quickly, and by the end of the day people were gossiping about how the white haired boy had managed to summon an ice dragon to destroy the Bludger and save the world amid cheers and spotlights. Of course that wasn't the case, but not everyone had seen what had happened, and besides, it was more fun to twist the facts.

These far out (yet pretty close) rumors seemed to amuse the white haired boy whom they concerned quite a big deal when the trio went to visit him after dinner. Most of his injuries had healed and he was just itching to get out of bed, but both the fussy nurse and Hermione would not let him even lift a foot off the bed, which left him having to talk to them while lying down and facing the ceiling.

"I summoned an ice dragon, huh?" he chuckled, refusing Ron's offer of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Last time he ate one of those beans, it was vomit flavored. Since then, his liking for them had gone… well… downhill, if you want.

"I don't get how that managed to get out, I mean, everyone was at the match, they should've seen what actually happened, right?" Hermione said worriedly, keeping a hand on his arm to make sure he wouldn't escape. Like he would… although he really wanted to.

"Ah well, it's out now, nothing we can do about it." Ron said, popping a purple bean into his mouth and immediately spitting it out. Toshiro did a quick lying-on-bed-dodge, and the sticky candy landed on the sheets just beside him. Hermione made a face and conked Ron on the head, giving him a big lecture about personal hygiene between conks. Toshiro and Harry just watched from the sidelines.

"Hey, uh… Toshiro?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for… well… saving me out there,"

The white haired boy turned to look at Harry, wide eyed. He had to admit, the sudden act of gratitude was a surprise.

"Er… well it's no big deal-"

"How could it not be a big deal? Look at yourself, you're all hurt and everything and this whole time…" He stopped talking abruptly, looking ashamed to continue. Hitsugaya blinked a few times at him, confused at first, then he understood. This was about the reason Dumbledore had asked Matsumoto to watch him in the first place.

"This whole time…" Harry continued, his voice falling to hardly a whisper. "I thought that you were here to kill me or something, or that you were… working with Voldemort…" His words caught in his throat, and he fell silent, his gaze focused on his shoes. When Toshiro did not answer, he chanced looking up. The white haired boy's face was an expressionless mask. Finally, he answered.

"I know,"

"What?"

"I knew that you suspected me of plotting to kill you." Toshiro said flatly, absently chewing on one of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "You don't hide it very well."

"What? You knew the whole time?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Didn't I just say you don't hide it very well?"

Harry looked at him in awe. "And yet you didn't say anything?"

"There was no need."

"No need? Even when someone suspects you of being the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Well, it's obvious I'm not."

Harry hung his head again, chewing on his lip. "Well, I don't think that anymore."

"I'm not surprised,"

"And I'm sorry,"

"Don't be,"

He raised his head and stared at Toshiro. "What? Why?"

"Better to be watching your back than blindly trusting everyone that comes to you without thinking."

He blinked. "But I thought…"

"I told you I'm not the Heir of Slytherin. Doesn't mean I may not be lying."

"So… you are the Heir of Slytherin?" he asked, very confused now.

"No. And I'm not lying, but you don't know that."

"So…"

"But I'd appreciate it if you stopped suspecting me of trying to chop off your head. If I did you wouldn't be here anymore. Consider it payment for saving your life."

"That was my whole point!"

"Hn,"

"So…" Harry held out his hand, and Toshiro looked at it, confused. "Let's put all that beside us. Friends?"

"Uh…"

"You're supposed to shake it."

A vein started pulsing in his forehead. "I knew that! What do you think I am?" But he still grasped the scarred boy's and shook it.

"Oh my gosh, Harry, _finally_!"

They both turned to face Hermione and Ron, who were looking very relieved indeed. "I was starting to get tired of his constant paranoid rambling and unfair prejudice."

"Hermione!"

And so the rose of friendship of the two boys slowly began to grow from the remains of suspicion, but like all roses, as beautiful as it is on the outside, there will always be thorns. Not yet, though…

~xXx~

It was late, and the hospital wing was closed. Toshiro had been unable to escape, and was ultimately forced to stay for the night. Well, at least it wasn't scorching hot like the dormitories. Maybe he could get hurt more often.

Another bout of insomnia had come over him, and after half an hour of tossing and turning in bed he decided to get up and finish writing his report. He was reluctant to include the part about his injury, but apparently it was critical that Soul Society received all information about what was going on over there, except for maybe going to the toilet or something. That was unnecessary.

He was halfway through describing the extent of his injuries when a loud _crack_ broke the still silence of the hospital wing. Toshiro had his hand around his wand (Hyourinmaru was currently unusable) and pointed it in the sound's direction in the time of half a second, ignoring the slight pain that shot through his ribs. The small light from the stick illuminated the thing that made the sound: its green, tennis-ball-sized eyes, bat-like pointed ears, and er… pillowcase? He remembered reading something about these guys, house elves or something. It jumped at the sight of the wand and took a step back.

"Please do not hurt Dobby! Dobby is not wanting to hurt Mr. Wizard!"

"Are you… a house elf?"

"Yes, sir, that is correct. My name is Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf."

The white haired boy blinked at this strange creature. He had seen pictures and everything, but never one in real life. But then again, this place could hardly surprise him anymore.

"Um… hello, Dobby. My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya," He returned his wand to the bedside table and held out his right hand. The elf stared at the pale outstretched hand, and suddenly burst out into tears. Toshiro took his hand back in alarm, clueless as to what to do next.

"D-Dobby, Dobby, stop, I-I'm sorry if I… er… offended you… or anything…"

The wailing immediately stopped, and Dobby stared up at him with those wide, watery eyes. Toshiro was famous for, after his hair, his strange eyes, but he had to admit, this… person? beat him by about a million points.

"Offend Dobby? Dobby knows that sir is the great and noble Harry Potter's friend, but never did Dobby know that even his friends would be as kind to us house elves!"

"Uh… but…"

"To have offered to shake Dobby's hand…" he continued, sniffling a bit. Toshiro decided that this was getting a _bit_ too weird and confusing, so instead of waiting for the teary creature to continue, he asked,

"Not to be… er… rude, or anything, but exactly what are you doing here?"

Sniffle. "Dobby has come to… apologize… sir."

"Apologize?"

"Yes. You see, sir, that Bludger…" He didn't continue, but proceeded to bash his head into a nearby chest of drawers. Toshiro blinked at the 'emo elf', unmoving, probably just too weirded out by everything that was going on. Then something clicked in his head.

"Wait… that was yours? The Bludger?"

"Dobby is terribly sorry sir, the Bludger was never meant for you sir!"

"You were trying to kill Potter."

"No, not kill, Dobby would never kill Harry Potter, sir!"

"Then why?"

Dobby wrung his skeletal hands, a worried look on his face. "Dobby cannot say, sir, Dobby has been forbidden to say by his masters…"

"Your masters?"

"The wizarding family that Dobby serves, sir."

Oh right. House elves were basically slaves to the wizard race. They existed to serve, and it was disgusting, despicable and pitiful. After all that they'd been through, these humans were still treating creatures that deserved equality as inferior creatures.

"Sir, you are in great danger! Both you and Harry Potter, sir!"

"Great danger?"

"Yes!"

"Is this about the Chamber of Secrets?"

He didn't answer, but grabbed a lamp and started bashing his fingers with it, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Dobby, Dobby, stop, you-" Toshiro grabbed the lamp and set it back on the table

"Forgive me, sir, Dobby has said too much!"

"Dob-"

Before he could finish the house elf's name, there was a loud crack and he was gone in a puff of smoke.

"Well that was very… fruitful…" Toshiro muttered sarcastically, about to go back to writing his report. Then he head footsteps, and quickly gathered all his things, stuffed them under the bed, and pulled the blankets over his head.

The doors opened, and a few people walked in, sounding out of breath. Another door opened, and Madam Pomfrey asked, "What happened?"

The out-of-breath people spoke, and Toshiro recognized their voices as those of Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. They told the nurse what had happened, and there was a gasp from her when they had finished. They talked a bit more about what was going to happen, then left the room. Madam Pomfrey bustled around the bed, examining the person before retiring to bed. Toshiro, however, lay wide awake, unable to sleep because his mind was too busy processing what he had just heard.

A student had been petrified. Their worst fears had come true.

~xXx~

"Did you hear? Colin Creevey's been Petrified!"

"The first year? In Gryffindor? The one with the camera?"

"I think so, yeah!"

"Oh my gosh, does that mean Hogwarts will be closing?"

"Oh, I hope not…"

"So it's true then?" Hermione asked Toshiro quietly, shooting glances at people around them.

"Yeah, unfortunately," the white haired boy replied, stabbing his fork into a potato in annoyance. "He was sent to the hospital wing just last night."

"But… he's not… dead… is he?" Ron asked, wide-eyed.

"Of course not. If that were the case, I doubt we'd all be sitting here. Frankly, I'm surprised the school hasn't closed down under these circumstances yet."

"Hermione, how long till the Potion is finished brewing?" Harry demanded, leaning forward so as to not be overheard. "We have to question Malfoy right away, before more people get attacked!"

"I'm quiteaware, Harry, but it takes time and if not brewed correctly will have dangerous effects on the drinker!"

'You said it's done!" Ron pointed out, his voice frantic like Harry's, although Harry's was more so.

"I said it's _almost _done. We've got two days left."

The two boys breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their eating. Toshiro, however, had other worries.

"You're sure you're going to be asking Malfoy?"

"Of course! He's our prime suspect!"

The white haired boy laughed at those words; apparently these kids thought they were the school detectives or something. Oh well, at least they were actually bothering to pretend, and at least they had some sort of lead, albeit very misplaced. Come to think of it, he hadn't come up with a suspect yet. He had never actually tried socializing with any of the students, and now he realized how stupid he had been to make that decision.

"Malfoy just doesn't seem like the type who would go around attacking students, and-"

"Malfoy's in Slytherin, he hates Muggles, his dad was in the school the last time the Chamber was opened. What more do you need?" Harry exclaimed.

"Haven't I already explained this? All that applies to that entire table over there!"

"Even the dad part?"

"I'm sure many students from Slytherin had parents who attended this school at the time of the first Chamber opening."

"Guys, Toshiro's got a point." Hermione said pointedly, crossing her arms.

"Hermione, the Potion was your idea in the first place!"

"You've got one shot at this. I doubt the perpetrator will wait a whole month for another batch of the potion to finish brewing."

"Why not Malfoy?"

Hitsugaya sighed. Were these people really that deaf? "He doesn't seem the type! He's annoying and arrogant, but he's not a murderer!"

"Petrifier," Ron interrupted. The other three glared at him and he shut up.

"I still think it's Malfoy." Harry said stubbornly, in a tone of finality that told Toshiro that there was really no point in trying to convince him otherwise. "We stick with the plan."

Hitsugaya leaned back, sighing. "Fine. But I'm telling you, Malfoy is not your guy."

"And I'm telling you he is."

"Boys…" Hermione muttered, annoyed. Ron looked at her.

"At least they're actually talking to each other now."

"True."

~xXx~

_The Diary of Rangiku the Awesome- 25th November_

_Dear Diary…_

_My hair is a total mess but it's a simple fix. And that stiff McGonagall was telling me the other day how I wear my robes too loosely, but hey, it's called fashion! Just because she isn't sexy like me doesn't mean she has to constrict me! _

_So… a student has just been stupefied, and I imagine taicho is feeling very tense at the moment. Meh… and he just got out of the hospital too!_

_Well, apparently that Potter boy doesn't suspect taicho anymore, and with good reason! I mean, taicho just went and bashed his insides up for the guy, it's hardly fair if he still thinks taicho stupefied the cat! Although… it probably is his fault that he got sick back then. Still!_

_I imagine taicho's trying to get to the bottom of the whole thing. He said they're going after Malfoy, or at least, the Potter Gang is. I just love my new name for them. 'The Potter Gang'. It's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?_

_Anyway, taicho's always been lacking in the social department, which is where I come in! You see, diary, as brilliant as taicho is, he wont talk to anyone unless he's known them for fifty years. No less. Although, I must admit he's getting friendlier. Maybe it's 'cause he's with people of his own age –insert snicker-_

_Anyway, since taicho doesn't know too many people around here except for the Potter gang (I should call them the purple octopus gang or something instead. What? Octopuses are cool!), he probably hasn't come up with a suspect list. So I took the liberty of making one myself! Strange, I'm actually doing work without taicho telling me to! I think I've been sake-deprived for too long… MUST… DRINK… SAKE…_

_Oh well I'll continue this once I find sake somewhere, even if I have to conjure it out of thin air! That would be so cool if I could do that~~ taicho wouldn't be able to destroy my sake stores then! –insert evil laugh- WOOT!_

_Oh yeah, and I found this awesome looking… er… I don't know what it is actually. WHO CARES? IT'S AWESOME LOOKING! ^^ Oh, and I have to give another report to that old geezer tonight. Meh. _

_Yeah… I'm gonna sign off now. _

~xXx~

Knock knock. "Come in," the elderly headmaster said, lifting his eyes from the yellowed parchment on which he was writing to see who it was. Well, he knew. It was simply out of courtesy.

"Hello, Professor Matsumoto. I hope you are well?"

"Uh… sure…" she replied uncertainly, slightly taken aback by the question.

"And I assume you've heard of the incident with unfortunate Colin Creevey?"

"Yes, sir. Is he alright?"

"Well, he's been petrified, but alive."

"And the school, sir?"

Dumbledore sighed, and his slowly deteriorating smile disappeared completely. "Alas, I do not know. You see, the last time an incident like this occurred, an unfortunate death followed. I do not want to expose the students to that kind of danger again, but as you can probably tell," he paused, his blue eyes hidden behind those half-moon spectacles, "this school is very important to a lot of people, students and teachers alike."

"The last time, sir?"

"Yes. You see, fifty years ago, a similar incident occurred, which resulted in the death of a girl. The culprit was caught… but…"

A long pause ensued, and Matsumoto waited for him to continue. However, he swiftly changed the subject, asking,

"So, how is or little friend Toshiro? I hear he was discharged this morning."

"Yes, as I hear it, he was just dying to get out of bed."

"I'm sure Poppy wasn't too happy about that."

Making a note of the nurse's first name, Matsumoto nodded, smirking. "Sir, about that Bludger…"

"It was a rogue one. Someone had bewitched it to chase Mr. Potter, but it was slightly off-target and hit Mr. Hitsugaya instead."

Not bothering to correct him, Matsumoto went on to ask the question both she and her captain had been worrying about. "And then afterwards, it turned to ice…"

Dumbledore looked at her sternly, his blue eyes seeming, not for the first time, to be looking into her soul.

"It was I that did that."

Matsumoto sucked in a breath. "Sir, we both know that was not the case."

"Do we?"

"Yes, sir."

The old man smiled. "Professor, I'm sure you're very tired. I'm sorry for calling you here so late."

"Sir-"

"The weather's becoming quite chilly, isn't it? I must remember to wear my coat out," he interrupted in a tone of finality. The strawberry blonde decided not to continue, she definitely wasn't getting anything out of him tonight.

"Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Professor."

Biting her lip, she bowed and turned on her heel, exiting the office.

"Damn."

~xXx~

"He didn't say why?"

"No," Matsumoto said, pouting and slumping her shoulders. "He just went and started talking about the weather or something."

Toshiro sighed. "I guess it's time to go confront him myself. We can't let this go on, otherwise our identities might be leaked out to everyone."

Matsumoto sighed. "And this whole business with that Creevey boy!" Her shoulders slumped more. "And here I was thinking I could finally get away from work."

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to slap her or threaten to freeze her sake. "This is serious, Matsumoto. There has already been one attack, and there may be a death next time."

"I know, I know! Argh… this is so complicated!" She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. "What about that thing you've been following, taicho?"

"Yes, well, it seems that at the moment, only Potter and I can hear it, and I have no idea why." He too, was frustrated. How were they supposed to solve this mystery when they didn't know the slightest thing about it? The library only had so much information on the subject; soon he would have to find other information sources.

"Maybe you're both crazy?"

A vein pulsed. "I'll beat you until you become crazy if you keep joking like that."

"Okay, okay, gomen, taicho!" she exclaimed, flapping her hands in front of her face to protect herself from any blow that her captain might deliver.

"What about your dueling club?"

"Tomorrow." Matsumoto yawned, blinking her eyes sleepily and smacking her lips. "I guess I'd better get ready for it."

"Like hell you will."

"Yeah, you're right" she grinned, showing her full set of white teeth. "Who knows, it might actually be successful for once."

"It all comes down to whether _you _want it to be successful or not."

"Haha, you know me, right taicho?"

"I wish I didn't."

"You're so mean, taicho!"

-insert evil smirk-

* * *

**Sorry it's short and hurried, I'm really out of time and I really wanted to get this up before I go. I already made you guys wait long enough. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story. Really. It makes my day to read them all. **

**Candied Sweets xD**

**P.S. I wrote this Fullmetal Alchemist oneshot (EdxWin) which is currently sitting in the box at the bottom of my profile. Please read it (if you want to, that is :P) and yeah... reviews are loved. It's supposed to be angsty, and it's my first time trying the genre. Probably my last as well :P**


	14. In Which All is Revealed I

**Hi, I'm backk :D Sorry if this chapter's a bit weird, spending too much time in China has an effect on my English. Look, you can notice it already :P**

**I planned on a whole renovation thing but decided against it in the end since it would take too much time and I'd probably have to re-publish it. But some of the first chapters have been edited and stuff so yeah. And I changed parts of chapter 7 so yeah… **

**This story is more than a year old now! Happy Belated Birthday, Ice and Lion! :D Btw, I still have to change your name :P **

**Disclaimer: Same old, same old. **

**

* * *

**The Duelling Club had, despite its reputation, managed to get quite a few members, but really they didn't expect much out of it. It was after all, taught by the infamous Professor Matsumoto. Why then, did so many people sign up? The answer was simple. _Hormones._

Nah, it's not that. Despite her questionable skill in teaching, Professor Matsumoto was likeable and easy to be around. And besides, dueling was cool, regardless of who was teaching it.

"Somehow, my excitement is dissolving when I think about Snape." Ron declared as the three of them made their way to the Great Hall. "I mean, duelling's cool and all, but _Snape_?"

"Come on, Ron, you wouldn't want to miss an opportunity like this, would you?" Hermione said, "You were quite enthusiastic about it last year."

"Yeah, but last year was a boogey set up by Malfoy," Harry cut in, "And we almost got killed!"

Hermione pouted. "Come on, it was your idea in the first place to join the club, Harry? Why are you complaining now?"

"I'm just pointing it out, Hermione," Harry shrugged. They reached the large double doors of the Great Hall, and proceeded to push them open. The four tables had been pushed aside to make space for the long stage in the middle. People were milling about, trying to get to the front of the stage, others practicing shooting spells at each other that occasionally produced rather… drastic results.

"Come to think of it, where's Toshiro?" Harry asked as the trio took their spaces on the side of the stage. "I thought he was coming?"

"Apparently he has some urgent business to take care of," Hermione replied, wincing as a first year boy stepped on her foot trying to get up front. She gave them a long and heated lecture on manners in public before carrying on, leaving the annoyed first year scowling at her and muttering about his mother. "You worrying about him, Harry?"

"Well… no, I'm just curious…" He flushed, annoyed that they had figured it out so quickly. He figured that he had to make up for all these months of suspecting him, even accusing him of wanting to kill him.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot!" he said suddenly, causing a few people to turn and stare. He looked at them sheepishly and apologized before turning back to a bewildered Hermione and Ron. "The letter!"

There was a pause as his friends tried to figure out what he was going on about, then Hermione clamped a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Oh my gosh, how could we forget that?" She turned to Harry, looking at him accusingly, "See, I told you! You shouldn't have stolen it! Now look at what you've gotten yourself in!"

'Hermione, you can't blame me for all that!" Harry retaliated, fuming that _he _was to be blamed for everything when it wasn't entirely his fault. It was _mostly _his fault, though, he just didn't want to admit it. "You're the one who cast the spell that disfigured it completely!"

"No Harry, _you're_ the one who went and stole it from him, translated it with a maybe-faulty spell, and _you're _the one who made it unreadable!"

"Guys, guys, don't fight…" Ron said meekly, for once being the voice of reason in the trio. His friends wouldn't listen though, and continued bickering.

"I was curious, okay?"

"You're _always _curious, Harry, but for once you have to think of the _consequences_ of that curiosity!"

"I'm not a cat!"

"I never said you were!"

"Guys…" It was useless, and Ron knew it, but it wouldn't hurt to try, right? After all, he never got to play these kinds of roles. To his surprise, they did shut up, but then so did the whole hall. They turned to see Matsumoto striding up the stage, smile on her face as she reached the middle and looked down at the students.

"Hello everyone," she said cheerfully, casting an eye on the trio who had momentarily stopped their argument. She looked slightly worried at the absence of a certain white-haired youth, but it left her face before they could see it.

"So, today, I'll be teaching you how to duel." She paused, "Professor Snape is _slightly _late today…" she said, twirling her wand between her fingers and smiling mischievously. "But we don't need _him," _Most of the room laughed, except for the sulky looking Slytherins who were shooting exasperated looks at her and muttering crossly. "So anyway, on with the lesson,"

"You've got to admit," Ron muttered, chortling, "She's a pretty awesome teacher,"

"You're going red, Ron,"

"Am not!"

~xXx~

Hitsugaya was standing in front of the stone gargoyle, which was supposed to lead to the headmaster's office. Problem was, he couldn't figure out how to get past it, and Matsumoto had conveniently forgotten to mention this one point.

"I supposed I'll need a password then?" he muttered, half-hoping the statue would reply (staying too long in this place was frying his brain). The gargoyle stayed predictably silent, like a normal statue should have, leaving Toshiro feeling rather stupid.

"Thanks a lot, Matsumoto," he muttered, thinking of all the possible passwords the headmaster would use. But really, he knew zilch about the old man, so how exactly could he?

"Mr.… Hitsugaya,"

Said person cringed at the voice of the 'slick git' walking up the corridor, his dark eyes surveying the boy in front of him. "Exactly… what are you… doing here?"

"I need to see the headmaster, sir," he replied, his face impassive.

"And why would you need to do that?"

"It's urgent," he said simply. Snape looked at him.

"It's… urgent?" He spoke very slowly, as if Toshiro was a little kid who wouldn't be able to understand him if he spoke any faster. The other party felt a vein starting to pop in his forehead in annoyance at this guy.

"Yes, sir."

Snape leaned in, and Toshiro instinctively leaned back. "I'm afraid, Mr. Hitsugaya, that the headmaster won't be seeing anyone unless they have… real reason… to see him."

"I assure you, _Professor _Snape, that my reason is real enough. Could you please allow me to see him?" He cringed inwardly; asking anything of this teacher was hardly his cup of tea, especially when he _really _needed his help. Ever since coming here he'd been rendered so helpless he wanted to bash a wall in.

Snape smirked, his eyes showing the 'and-here-I-thought-you-had-some-sort-of-dignity' look. "I'm afraid I cannot help you, Mr. Hitsugaya, and besides," He turned, his robes swishing so exaggeratedly even the great indifferent Toshiro had to hold in a laugh. "I must be going."

Vein pop_. If you had somewhere to get to, why did you bother even talking to me? _"It's about the Chamber of Secrets!"

As expected, this got Snape's attention. He froze, then turned slowly, his dark eyes surveying Hitsugaya's turquoise ones for any hint of a lie. Hitsugaya stared back, unflinching.

"What do you know about it?"

Hitsugaya smirked; he had him now. "I am only willing to discuss it with the headmaster." This was something Matsumoto used on him all the time, and he'd come to learn a few tricks. Snape cringed and this new tactic, then tried to hide it. Obviously he was unsuccessful under the sharp eye of Hitsugaya Toshiro, whose smirk grew wider.

"Very well, I shall allow you to see the headmaster." Snape finally said, albeit reluctantly. "However, should you… waste his time with nonsense-" A vein pulsed in Toshiro's forehead at his frankness "-I shall make sure you are properly… punished."

"Yes sir," Toshiro murmured, silently congratulating himself on the victory, then mentally kicking himself at his slow transformation into a cheeky school boy. What happened to his renowned maturity?

"The password is 'sherbet lemon,'" the potions master said, before turning and swiftly leaving the corridor, the pride in his step damaged enough to make a visible difference. Bested by a student. It was like being bested by Matsumoto, but then again, Toshiro wasn't the normal student. It was what Snape thought… at least.

Wasting no time to celebrate this victory, Toshiro turned to the statue and said the password. He was expecting it to jump away or something. Instead, there was a low thump, and a flight of stairs spiraled out of the ground and around the gargoyle before the whole thing started spiraling upwards on a slab of stone that had appeared out of the ground. Toshiro's reflexes, as quick as ever, jumped onto the moving staircase and watched as the ceiling moved down to become the floor of the level above. The structure came to a halt, and Toshiro found himself staring at large double doors, although not as big as those to the Great Hall. Still, they were big, bigger than the ones to his office, he noted irritatedly.

He stepped off the stone staircase, which fell back into the ground the moment his feet left them. He cringed at how dangerous that must be, supposing a student lost their footing and ended up falling backwards onto the gargoyle's pointy head. Or maybe Dumbledore himself, who was an elderly man. A cheerful and energetic old man, but an old man nonetheless. How tragic it would be if the school lost their headmaster thanks to this dangerous contraption.

He walked forward and knocked twice on the large doors, the sound of his knuckles against the wood echoing across the small stone room. There was a pause, then a small voice came from the office. "Come in,"

Tentatively, Toshiro pushed open the doors to reveal a huge room filled with books, strange tinkling instruments, and a magnificent red phoenix perched on one side, grooming its feathers. It was just as Matsumoto had described it: huge. Toshiro found himself wanting an office like this, but he quickly dismissed the thought and turned his eyes to the main character of the whole scene. Apart from him, of course.

Dumbledore. He was sitting at his desk situated right in the middle of the room, writing something on a piece of parchment. Toshiro bowed, like the 'good student' he was pretending to be. But then again, the reason he was here today was because he would probably have to throw away that façade and reveal himself, at least, to the headmaster. Then he straightened, and looked straight at the amused looking headmaster.

"Hello, Mr. Hitsugaya. I must admit, I have been expecting you for some time."

Toshiro did not comment. "Professor Dumbledore sir, there are some things I would like to discuss with you."

"But of course. Why don't you take a seat?"

Toshiro did so, pulling out the armchair in front of Dumbledore and sitting down on it. This was the first time he had seen the famous headmaster this close up. Matsumoto had described him as a mixture of the Captain Commander and Ukitake-taicho, and she was quite right. Not just in appearances, this man gave off the aura of being kind and caring, yet severe and with the power to chop someone's head off mercilessly if they deserved it. That latter part was probably hidden behind the cheerful side most of the time, though.

"I think I can guess what this is about." Dumbledore said, smiling at him. His eyes were a startling blue.

"Then I'll go straight to the point, sir," Toshiro replied, steeling himself for it. It had been inevitable, he knew the moment Dumbledore had expressed his suspicions to Matsumoto that it would come to this. He just hoped it would happen later. No such luck, he guessed.

"Professor Dumbledore, I know that several months ago, you told someone to watch over me," He couldn't mention Matsumoto's name, suspicion to himself was bad enough, dragging Matsumoto into this would completely compromise their mission. At least this way, if he got kicked out, Matsumoto would still be there to complete the task.

"Oh? And how, may I ask, did you come to this knowledge?"

"Observation," he simply said. Then he leaned forward slightly, his icy eyes meeting with Dumbledore's "I would like to hear the reasons for this invasion of privacy, sir,"

"An invasion of privacy?" the old man inquired, smiling, "I'm sorry if you thought of it like that. I was simply concerned for my students."

"I don't see others being tailed and spied on, sir,"

"Yes, well, you're quite right," The smile had faded slightly, to be replaced by a much more solemn expression. "Well, it would only be fair for me to tell you why I chose to do this,"

Toshiro bit his lip, listening intently.

"I'm afraid you must forgive me for being direct. I trust you remember the tragedy regarding Mr. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris?"

"Of course,"

"And a few weeks before, when Mr. Potter unfortunately fell ill and lost consciousness for a short while?"

"Are you saying these two are connected?" Toshiro asked suspiciously. One of their theories for Potter's illness was vast exposure to their reiatsus, but this had never been proven or investigated. He added this on his list of things to tie up.

"This is what our informant thought when he came to me and expressed his suspicions. I'm afraid to say I already had a… feeling… when you entered the school, that something was… off,"

"Off?" the boy inquired skeptically. First Potter, now Dumbledore could sense reiatsus?

"Forgive my choice of words, but yes." Toshiro waited for him to continue, but he didn't. So he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, and tried to figure the old man out. He was being unexpectedly honest; he had expected at least some sort of resistance or some ingenious way of getting round the subject so that even the great Matsumoto was fooled. But no, here he was spouting everything. It was suspicious… or was he being paranoid?

"Professor Dumbledore, regardless of what Po-Harry may think, I had nothing to do with the incident regarding the caretaker's cat."

"No, of course not. My concern was in something else."

He raised an eyebrow. "Does it have anything to do with what happened at Ollivander's, sir?" This had come out on an impulse, and almost immediately he regretted saying it. Dumbledore, however, only laughed.

"Yes, that is quite right. You remember, I assume, the incident that happened at the shop?"

"Of course. But it was an isolated incident. It's never happened again."

"Of course," That smile really was getting irritating. "Eleven inches, maple and dragon heartstring, am I correct?"

"And how did you come across this information, professor?"

"Ollivander is an old friend," He blinked, "Was he correct?"

"Y-yes…" Toshiro answered, faltering slightly. This harmless looking old man was really creepy, and coming from Hitsugaya Toshiro that was saying something.

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Mr. Toshiro, what do you know about the 'Ice Ring?'"

He blinked at the unexpected question. "The… Ice Ring, sir?" Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid I've never heard of it before."

"You haven't?" A look of disappointment flashed across his face, but it was gone in a second. "My mistake then." However, this had piqued Toshiro's interest, so he asked:

"What is it, sir?"

"The Ice Ring? It is what we call the monster of the Chamber of Secrets."

"It has a name?" he asked incredulously. And McGonagall had said it didn't exist, yet they even went to the trouble of naming it.

"Well yes, it's a nickname the students have come up with. It is quite appropriate, considering the way the… 'attacks' are staged out. You yourself saw the state Mrs. Filch's body was in."

Toshiro nodded. "And how does this have anything to do with me?"

"Well, I hope it has nothing to do with you. But Mr. Ollivander described something quite peculiar about the day he met you."

A pause. "Ollivander described seeing a 'chunk of ice with crimson eyes'."

Another long pause. Dumbledore looked like he was waiting for Toshiro to catch up. He however, had been fearing this from the beginning.

"You think it was me."

The second that ensued were some of the longest ones in his life. He stared at the elderly headmaster, whose piercing blue eyes burned into his teal ones. A relieved and sad look crossed those eyes: something inevitable had happened. After this, there was no going back to those ignorant, carefree days.

"Correct."

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**Sorry it's late **_**and **_**short, I'm just too busy right now, what with school starting and high school and stuff… arghh it's horrible :( I'll try to update quicker, though :D**

**Thank you to all those who reviewed, it makes me so happy every time I get a new one, really. Thank you for supporting me all the way through this.**

**Candied Sweets xD**

**R.I.P. Victims of the Manila Massacre 23/8/2010.**


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